There is a lot of talk about climate, sustainability, and renewable energy. What does it mean? Does it mean we will be running our cars on biofuel and living in solar-powered houses next year? Probably not. So, what can we expect from this green revolution? One thing is certain: Whether we rely on hydrocarbons or other energy sources, GEOSCIENCE will be central to all future energy.
While sustainable energy has global attention and increased investment (the Canadian Pension Fund has doubled its investment in renewables energy), a shift away from fossil fuels will be a gradual one and will rely on future technology and more materials to make these technologies work. Here are a few examples of how geoscience will play a central role in the sustainable revolution:
- Ditching our gas-guzzling cars for electric vehicles will require materials for the batteries, which have a finite life. Finding these materials (like lithium) is no easy challenge and requires knowledge of geology to find where these metals are underground. Our consumption of these materials could increase forty-fold so finding and extracting these materials will be very important!
- Switching out grids over to geothermal energy (energy that comes from hot rocks underground), will require us to use geoscience to find appropriate sites and drill wells to access this heat to make electricity.
- Sequestering CO2 generated by oil and gas, the production of hydrogen from hydrocarbons, and from other industries like concrete, will require intense geoscientific studies to find appropriate places to store it underground for thousands of years.
In short, geoscientists are responsible for finding our future energy resources. They also have a social and ethical responsibly to extract them in a safe and sustainable way. That’s no easy task but geoscientists are up to the job!
Find out more:
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-57234610
nce/what-on-earth-green-conhttps://www.cbc.ca/news/science/what-on-earth-green-concrete-1.6069639crete-1.6069639
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