2nd EAGE Geoscience and Engineering for the Energy Transition Conference

23-25 November 2021 | Online Event

ONLINE CONFERENCE

GET21 will now take place as a fully online conference, where delegates can join from around the world to participate online in our diverse technical sessions on Offshore Wind, CCUS, Energy Storage, Geothermal Energy, Cross-Uses, Integration, Environment & Sustainability, and Solutions & Society.

WELCOME BY OUR CO-CHAIRS

As we invite you to join us (again) for the second conference in Strasbourg in November 2021, it is yet unclear what the pandemic will mean for the energy transition. When we started preparing the first conference ‘Geoscience and Engineering for the Energy Transition (GET2020)’ one year ago, we could not imagine where the world – and the energy sector – would be by the time it was held in November. In the shadow of the pandemic, delegates from Europe and beyond met online to discuss the skills and technologies geoscience industries can deploy to enable the energy transition, covering an impressive breadth of disciplines, industries and approaches. Now, during the preparation for the second conference in November 2021, opportunities for re-starting the economy in a sustainable way are faced with the day-to-day challenges of the economic downturn, which may jeopardize our journey towards the Paris climate goals.

Energy transition technologies have demonstrated remarkable degrees of maturity and a great potential to change the energy mix. All sustainable scenarios to meet the climate targets point towards a combination of these technologies and of different energy sources to feed the energy demand in a net-zero emission future.

GET2021 will address this context along three axes:

Continuing to showcase the work on the established uses of the subsurface for the energy transition, while broadening the scope of the debate by looking at the role of the subsurface disciplines for other energy sources.

Following the “trademark” approaches of the GET conferences by looking at the synergies between these uses and at the technical solutions that can be “crossed over” from one industry or application to another.

Reflecting on the underlying associated societal aspects, including financing, governance and policies, as well as the overall environmental impact and sustainability of the solutions we propose.

The first axis will invite the delegates to present and exchange their experience in the established fields of geothermal energy, energy storage (including natural gas, heat and hydrogen storage) and carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS), which have been the technical backbone of GET2020. Traditional subsurface players such as the petroleum industry have evaluated the application of their technical and business approaches to these fields for decades. As we need to accelerate the energy transition, new questions emerge: What are the key enablers? How can we upscale current operations to the capacities required for a net-zero emissions energy system? What are the skills to transfer and to adopt? What are the most effective ideas and the most important lessons to apply? This second edition will add a new dimension to the GET conferences, by considering the contribution of geoscience and engineering to the development and deployment of other energy technologies, and in particular their support to the offshore wind industry. This will open up the discussion to identify new roles and new skills for the geoscientists and engineers, which will be responsible for the sustainable use of our shared subsurface resources.

The second axis will explore the most effective synergies between different uses of the subsurface in the energy system. On the one hand, we will be looking at the potential of system integration, for example through “dual play” opportunities when combining different applications to produce or store energy. We will aim at highlighting what the geosciences can bring to boost their efficiency and unlock their potential. On the other hand, we will reflect on opportunities for transferring subsurface technologies across different subsurface uses, stimulating “cross-over” from one application to another and facilitating deployment.

Finally, the third axis will address how to translate and communicate the best practices and lessons learned to project governance, policy framework, relevant stakeholders and - more in general - all aspects of the participation of society in the energy transition. It will also provide a platform to discuss the sustainability of the different uses of the subsurface and of the technologies applied to enable the energy transition. It aims to address their respective environmental impact and the trade-offs required by their place in the energy mix, considering both the positive as well as negative influences on the ecosystem services.

We invite the geoscience and engineering community working in the energy industry, in research institutions and academia, within public authorities and social stakeholders, to join the debate by presenting your work and joining this conference. We look forward to meeting you in Strasbourg!

The co-chairs of GET21