Welcome to Energy ROCKS, a place to learn about geoscience and its impact on the world, especially when it comes to energy.
Did you know that geoscience is critical for generating many types of energy? Here are a few examples:
Oil and gas exploration and development
Geothermal site selection
Wind farm development
Carbon capture, utilization & storage (CCUS) site investigation
Battery metal exploration and mining
more!
Opinions on energy can be polarizing. This site attempts to approach energy from a geoscience perspective in a balanced and informed way. Energy ROCKS suggests you also do you own research, and judge the reliability of the source of that information.
Energy ROCKS is excited to hear from you! What topics would you like to learn about? Leave us a comment below.
When ChatGPT was skyrocketing in popularity I decided to test the waters by asking the bot an open-ended question. Since my background is in Geophysics, that’s where I started. I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical but I think the answer to my question was thoughtful – which is a strange word to describe a computer-generated response! I asked and ChatGPT delivered.
Hey ChatGPT, tell me why geophysics will be important for our future.
Geophysics is a branch of earth science that studies the physical properties of the Earth and its atmosphere, oceans, and solid earth. It is a multidisciplinary field that incorporates elements of physics, mathematics, and engineering to understand the Earth’s processes and phenomena.
Geophysics is important because it helps us to understand the Earth’s structure and how it functions, which is critical for a wide range of applications. For example, geophysics is used to explore and map the Earth’s natural resources, such as oil, gas, and minerals, which are essential for our modern society. It also helps us to monitor and predict natural disasters, such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and landslides, so that we can take appropriate measures to protect lives and property.
In addition, geophysics is important for understanding and addressing the impacts of human activities on the Earth’s environment. For example, geophysics can help us to monitor and understand the effects of climate change and pollution on the Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, and land.
Overall, geophysics will be important for our future because it enables us to better understand and manage the Earth’s resources, protect ourselves from natural hazards, and address the challenges of a rapidly changing world.
And there you have it. Address the challenges of a rapidly changing world. Energy. Climate. Safety. Could geophysics be any more critical to our future? I think not.
If you are contemplating a career in geoscience, this is just the beginning for you! Depending on what you enjoy, there is a specialization to fit your interests.
My own career journey has touched many different facets of geoscience. While it hasn’t been straight-forward, it has been interesting!
I found my way to geoscience through engineering. In my first year of university, I fell in love with geology and pursued geological engineering. From there I specialized in geophysics and then microseismology in graduate school. I started my career working as a geophysicist in oil and gas, then moved into the geoscience services, where I worked on monitoring and studying hydraulic fracturing and induced seismicity (man-made earthquakes). My career led me to the business side, where I consulted for mining and energy companies, and then to business development, where I helped companies find geoscience data solutions. The latest twist in my career journey has brought me to marketing and communications, which allows me to work closely with geoscientists and explore my creative side at the same time.
Once you are in geoscience, there are endless career options. I’ve put together an infographic to explore these career paths, based on interest. This is not an exhaustive list and some careers (like volcanology) may span different domains. No matter what path you take, enjoy the journey!
Career paths in geoscience, based on interest
Are you a geoscientist? Does your career fit within this framework? Comment on your career journey below.
You’ve probably heard recent calls by investors, university groups, or climate change experts to stop using oil and gas immediately. Government promises are plentiful; move to exclusively electric vehicles by 2030; be carbon neutral by 2050. You may have even heard opposite arguments, saying that the world needs oil and can’t get away from it.
It seems we are in an energy tug-of-war. How do you pick a side? Do you even need to? What is realistic?
Let’s start with the current energy mix. Right now (based on 2019 consumption) 84% of the world’s energy comes from fossil fuels. That includes almost 30% coal. Nuclear, hydroelectric and renewables make up the remaining, with renewables (including biomass, solar, geothermal, wind, to name a few) providing about 5% of consumed energy. The renewables slice is not very big, and it is not evenly distributed throughout the world.
Energy Consumption by type in 2019 (Source: Forbes)
If you think that is surprising, consider that oil and natural gas production is projected to increase over the next 20 years. The pace of renewables & oil and gas alternatives is also projected to increase rapidly.
Based on IEA 2020 World Energy Outlook, Modified by CAPP
Can we simply cut off 84% of the world’s energy supply overnight? Is it oil or nothing?
A growing chorus of voices is calling for a smooth and strategic energy transition. In this approach, a planned, measured approach is used to integrate more renewable and alternative sources into the current energy mix.
Why a smooth transition is a good idea:
Energy poverty
“Turning off the taps” would be devastating to countries that rely on these resources. Many countries don’t have access to the economic and physical resources required to transition to a new energy source. This would likely create a humanitarian crisis.
Stress on earth systems and resources
Shifting immediately to new sources of energy creates new problems. According to an analysis by ENERGYminute, if we all switched to EV cars tomorrow, the world would require lithium production to increase by over 2500%, which would deplete the world’s reserves in 14 short years. Similarly, Cobalt would be depleted in three years. Yikes.
Increased mining also places stress on the environment, and would also face social hurdles (heard of NIMBY?). It also takes significant time to propose, plan, and develop a new mine. According to the University of Arizona, it can take 4-12 years to develop a copper mine and between 1 million and 1 billion to plan and build an operation. That doesn’t include the actual mining and closure, which also take time and money.
Time for innovation
Not all renewable technologies are sustainable. Wind, solar, and batteries, all require materials from mining. A gradual transition allows time for innovation and new technology. It only took 66 years from the first successful airplane flight to land on the moon. It’s safe to say that a lot can happen and will happen in the next decade.
Economic stability
Shutting down an industry is economically devastating. In Canada, oil and gas-related activities contribute to just under 10% of the country’s GDP and make up nearly 25% of some provinces’ economies. Removing that, without replacing it with something else would cost jobs, require infrastructure clean-up (here’s an example), and more at great expense.
Can the energy transition happen overnight? No. Do we need an energy transition? Yes.
It’s easy to dismiss emissions because we don’t see them, but geoscientists and engineers have a duty to the public, and a part of that duty is to clean up after ourselves. If you stopped cleaning up your home, it would get pretty gross (…surprisingly quickly).
The energy transition is still taking shape and it is progressing. What is clear at this point in time is that new solutions will need to be sustainable and realistic.
What do you think the future will bring for global energy? Share your thoughts below.
Perhaps the most difficult part of being a geophysicist, is explaining what a geophysicist is. It sounds complicated. It’s even hard to say. So… what is a geophysicist?
To children, I like to say that a geophysicist is a person who makes pictures of the world underground; of places that we would not otherwise be able to see. To a more mature audience, I describe it like being an x-ray technologist or sonographer (ultrasound professional) for the earth. While people in these jobs would be looking for contrasts in bone and tissue to signal abnormalities, breaks, or new life, a geophysicist is using images of the earth to look for changes in the rock that might signal water, energy sources, metals, structures like faults or temperature changes in the rocks beneath our feet.
With geophysics we can see ancient meandering rivers, beaches, impact craters from meteorites, faults and folds in the rock, and giant domes of salt rising like air balloons through rock. We can picture what the earth looked like thousands, or many millions of years ago. We can look at how the earth has gradually changed. Looking at a geophysical image is like looking at a slice of history.
How do geophysicists do this? Instead of radiation and ultrasound waves, they use sound waves and magnetic, electric, and gravitational fields to find changes in physical rock properties, like density or conductivity for example, and use these changes to make images of the earth.
Some real-world examples of geophysics in action are:
Recording earthquake shockwaves to map faults for improved safety
Looking for changes in aeromagnetic data (magnetic field surveys done from the air) to signal hot areas for geothermal development
Using ground penetrating radar to identify shallow voids in archaeology (see my previous post)
Guiding the drilling of wellbores for responsible petroleum or helium extraction
Evaluation of potential long-term storage sites for carbon dioxide or nuclear waste
Geophysics is both beautiful and practical. It will be a science that will be critical to future energy and resource development. For more information on geophysics or careers in geophysics, check out the Canadian Society of Exploration Geophysicists (CSEG). The CSEG offers a mentorship program for anyone interested in the science as well as free access to their publications and teaching resources.
Hanging above my kitchen table are trees…or what used to be trees. They are prints of trees from US national forests made with ink on heavy parchment. I often find myself staring at these prints (a sign that my money was well spent on art). They are fascinating. The rings expand and contract, wind around each other, split and reconnect. Each ring is a reflection of the life that this tree lived. Were the wider rings grown during a warmer time with lots of rainfall? Were the narrower rings formed during a drought or a cold year? What made this tree branch and curl?
Tree rings represent a complicated story. Photo of print by LintonArt.
These tree rings and the questions they evoke remind me how similar a young tree and an old rock can be. Looking at a natural wall of rock (called an outcrop), it is fun to stop and think about what these rocks have seen. Were they brought here by floods, storms, or waves? Was it an ancient volcano? What small little creatures burrowed in its mud before it turned to stone? Did dinosaurs walk on this layer? Did the Earth have life or breathable air when this rock came to be? What tremendous forces cracked this rock and reshaped it into its current state?
Trees and rocks both give us clues to our past. They formed slowly, adapted to a changing climate and seasonal conditions, were interrupted and modified by the world around them. They are clues to unlock our planet’s history. To think like a geoscientist we need only to look at the world around us and ask – how did this come to be?
Is there something you are wondering about? Comment below!
Geothermal energy is a hot topic these days, but what is it, and why is it so steamy?
Geothermal uses heat (the thermal part) from the earth (the geo part) for energy and, yes, heating. As you go deeper in the earth, it warms up (by about 25°C per kilometer). In some places the ground heats up more quickly. That’s where you can find hot springs, geysers, and volcanoes. It’s here where the first commercial geothermal projects were established – dating back to the early 1900s.
So why all the sudden sizzle? Here are a few reasons.
Timing. The world is moving away from fossil fuels to reduce emissions and is embracing alternative sources of energy like geothermal. Public acceptance (and project funding) has never been higher.
Consistency. Unlike wind or solar, whose energy outputs depend on the weather (called intermittent sources), the ground is hot all year round, providing a consistent source of baseload energy. Geothermal can even be paired with intermittent energy alternatives for more stable energy output.
Innovation. Until recently, geothermal projects have been geographically limited to hotter places on Earth where water can be heated up in the ground and pumped back up to surface to generate energy. Innovations, like closed-loop technology, have been shown to work in areas that aren’t in hot spring territory and have even been adapted to use existing oil and gas wells. This opens up the possibility of having geothermal energy in more places.
The potential is big. We could see geothermal brought to remote communities as a source of heat and power. Heat from these projects can be used for greenhouses, which could bring fresh food to remote communities where perishable food often comes with a high price tag. Could geothermal energy reduce energy poverty and food insecurity? Now that’s a hot take!
Geophysics is a tool that is most often used to uncover Earth’s history. On a large scale geophysics tells us about the structure of the earth with its core, mantle, and crust or how tectonic plates move apart and come together. On a smaller scale, it can tell us about where ancient rivers used to flow, where the ground has cracked under stress, or where we can find energy and materials.
Geophysics is also a tool to uncover our recent human history. A profoundly sad truth has been emerging as ground penetrating radar (GPR), a geophysical tool, is being used to identify the unmarked graves of children who died in Canadian residential schools.
What is GPR?
GPR is a tool to locate shallow buried objects like wires and pipes or to find voids like graves or tunnels and trenches from WW1.
“The device includes a radar-transmitting antenna that sends the high-frequency waves into the ground that will bounce back to the receiver if they hit anything that is different from the medium of the soil.” – CBC
For more on GPR and its role in uncovering Canadian history, please visit the link below.
No matter what our energy mix looks like in the future, geoscientists will be at the heart of its transformation.
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!
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