Researching the discovery and sustainable extraction and production of minerals, low-carbon energy, and exploring energy storage and decarbonisation
We develop new and advanced methods to sustainably extract and produce low-carbon energy, and for energy storage and decarbonisation. Our research seeks to improve the sustainability and mitigate the environmental impacts of energy production.
Our pure and applied research, computational analysis, modelling and fieldwork focuses on sustainability and innovation to address global energy challenges, covering topics such as:
- characterisation and modelling of subsurface reservoirs;
- carbon capture and storage;
- wind energy;
- mobile energy storage in batteries and fuel cells;
- large-scale subsurface energy storage;
- geothermal energy;
- nuclear energy; and
- lifecycle analysis of low-carbon energy.
We also investigate how to sustainably source, extract and use Earth's resources to support our growing global population and the hugely increased demand for metals associated with the green energy transition, while minimising direct and indirect environmental impacts. Topics studied include:
- Ore formation processes;
- Advanced mineral exploration techniques including isotope analysis and remote sensing;
- Rock mechanics and fracturing for improved block caving prediction;
- Environmental modelling and life cycle assessment; and
- Minerals processing equipment and circuit design, modelling and optimisation.
If you are interested in one of the projects listed below, we encourage you to contact the primary project supervisor or the alternative contact person for further information.
Current projects
Pore-Scale Imaging, Analysis, and Data-Driven Pore-Scale Modelling [Info Sheet - Blunt Pore-Scale Imaging]
Supervisor: Professor Martin Blunt
Topology, wettability and fluid flow in porous materials [Info Sheet - Blunt Topology]
Supervisor: Professor Martin Blunt
Modelling and predicting flotation froth stability [Info Sheet - Brito-Parada Froth Stability]
Supervisors: Dr Pablo Brito-Parada, Professor Stephen Neethling
Dynamic Isotopic and Probabilistic Modelling of Global Metal Flows: Integrating Isotope Geochemistry, Bayesian Inference, and System Dynamics to Advance Industrial Ecology [Info Sheet - Plancherel DIPMod]
Supervisors: Dr Yves Plancherel, Rupert Myers, Pablo Brito-Parada, Kolyan Ray
Data-Driven Detection and Attribution of Illegal Resource Extraction [Info Sheet - Plancherel IllegalResources]
Supervisors: Dr Yves Plancherel
Modelling groundwater flow and heat transport in fractured aquifers with application to geothermal and underground thermal energy storage [Info Sheet - Jackson fractured heat]
Supervisors: Professor Matthew Jackson, Meissam Bahlali (Imperial), Carl Jacquemyn (Imperial), Ed Hough (British Geological Survey), Andres Gonzalez Quiros (British Geological Survey)
Electrokinetic enhanced in-situ resource utilisation (EK-ISRU) for green copper production [Info Sheet - Jackson EK-ISRU]
Supervisors: Professor Matthew Jackson, Dr Pablo Brito-Parada, Professor Stephen Neethling
Monitoring Global groundwater change using seismic methods [Info Sheet - Kim Groundwater Seismology]
Supervisors: Dr Doyeon Kim, Professor Matthew Jackson
Global CO2 storage capacity: Modeling limitations of geography and injectivity [Info Sheet - Krevor CO2StorageCapacity]
Supervisor: Prof Sam Krevor
Reservoir characterisation and modelling of CO2 storage underground [Info Sheet - Krevor CO2StorageModelling]
Supervisor: Prof Sam Krevor
Fundamentals of carbon dioxide storage by mineralisation to carbonate minerals [Info Sheet - Krevor CO2Mineralisation]
Supervisor: Prof Sam Krevor
Using the magnetic signature of former hydrocarbon-rich environments to test for the suitability of carbon Sequestration: A numerical approach [Info sheet - Magnetic Signature of Hydrocarbon-rich Environments]
Supervisors: Prof. Adrian Muxworthy, and Prof. Wyn Williams (University of Edinburgh)
The Rayleigh-Taylor instability and its impact on CO2 mixing in saline aquifers [Info Sheet - Muggeridge the rayleigh]
Supervisors: Prof Ann Muggeridge
The role of geological processes on long term CO2 storage security in aquifers [Info Sheet - Muggeridge the role]
Supervisors: Prof Ann Muggeridge, Craig Smalley and Lidia Lonergan
Volatiles in zircon-hosted inclusions as indicators of porphyry copper fertility [Info Sheet - Nathwani zircon inclusions]
Supervisors: Dr Chetan Nathwani, Dr. Yannick Buret (NHM), Prof. Jon Blundy (University of Oxford)
Mapping the Continental Hydrogen Kitchen [Info Sheet - Richards mapping]
Supervisors: Dr Fred Richards, Ann Muggeridge, Rebecca Bell, Valentin Laurent, and Michele Paulatto
Source-to-Sink Analysis of Critical Metal Mineralisation [Info Sheet - Richards source to sink]
Supervisors: Dr Fred Richards, Tom Lamont (UNLV) and Alex Lipp (UCL)
Supervisor: Professor Jamie Wilkinson
Machine learning for subsurface multiphase flow in the energy transition [Info sheet - Machine Learning for Multiphase Flow]
Supervisors: Dr. Gege Wen