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Summary
Shale gas and fracking have become contentious subjects, hailed by some as a lower carbon alternative to coal, criticised by others for its potential environmental impact. In this panel discussion experts in the field will discuss the facts surrounding the future of shale gas in the UK, and what are the challenges and issues facing fracking in technology, economics, policy and the environment.
Chair:
Professor Tim Green, Director of the Energy Futures Lab at Imperial College London
Tim became Director of the Energy Futures Lab in February 2014. He also leads the EPSRC hub in energy networks, HubNet, based on a core of 8 UK universities and a Grand Challenge EPSRC project on infrastructure technologies for future networks.
Tim’s research focused on the analysis and technology to support the development of a low carbon electricity supply network that is able to accommodate variable renewable sources and new widespread electric vehicle charging while still delivering a cost effective and very reliable service. He also specialises in power electronics for use in power systems.
Panellists:
Francis Egan, CEO of Cuadrilla Resources
Cuadrilla Resources is a UK company founded in 2007, its focus is on the exploration for and extraction of natural gas and oil from non-conventional reservoirs. Francis Egan joined Cuadrilla as CEO in July 2012.
Francis has some 30 years of diverse international experience working in engineering and management roles in the upstream oil & gas industry. Prior to joining Cuadrilla, Francis worked in Houston as President of Production for BHP Billiton Petroleum with management responsibility for BHP Billiton’s worldwide oil and gas production.
Jane Burston, Head of the Centre for Carbon Measurement at the National Physical Laboratory
Jane is Head of the Centre for Carbon Measurement at the UK’s National Physical Laboratory (NPL) where she is responsible for managing the work of 120 scientists on climate science, emissions monitoring and low carbon technologies. The NPL, along with partner Cuadrilla, has the first project to measure emissions from shale gas extraction operations in the UK using the NPL’s unique DIAL facility.
Jane is a Trustee of the campaigning NGO Sandbag, a board member of the Natural Environment Research Council’s Doctoral Training Programme across five London universities, and a member of the World Economic Forum Council on the Future of Urbanisation. Previously Jane was Founder and CEO of Carbon Retirement, a social enterprise reforming emissions trading and carbon offsetting. In 2011 she was named in Management Today’s ‘35 high-flying women under 35’ list and as Square Mile magazine’s ‘Social Entrepreneur of the Year’, and in 2012 as Management Today’s top ‘Non-profiteer’.
Professor Geoff Maitland, Professor of Energy Engineering at Imperial College London
Geoff was appointed to a lectureship in Chemical Engineering at Imperial College in 1974, before moving to the oil and gas industry in 1986 with Schlumberger, where he led research in oilfield fluids engineering for well construction, reservoir stimulation and production enhancement.
He rejoined Imperial College in September 2005 as Professor of Energy Engineering and his current research covers clean and efficient fossil fuel production and use, with particular emphasis on carbon dioxide capture and storage processes, recovery of non-conventional hydrocarbons including methane hydrate production and energy-related reactor engineering. He is the founding Director of the Qatar Carbonates and Carbon Storage Research Centre (QCCSRC).
Dr Nick Riley, Director of Carboniferous Ltd
Nick was formerly Team Leader for Unconventional Gas at the British Geological Society, and now directs his own company Carboniferous Ltd, based in Nottingham.
Nick has been an international expert on carboniferous rocks throughout his 33 year career with the BGS. His expertise has been utilised in a variety of ways, including surface and subsurface mapping of UK carboniferous strata, coal, oil, gas exploration & development in the UK and Former Soviet Union, large civil engineering projects, radwaste storage, carbon capture & storage, underground natural gas storage and mineral exploration. In 2003 Nick was awarded an MBE by Her Majesty the Queen for “Services to UK Geoscience”.