Published:
Professor Arne Skauge is to be appointed to a new Energi Simulation Chair at Heriot-Watt University.
The new chair will continue a long-standing collaboration delivering leading research to decarbonise energy generation, by optimising and accelerating recovery from maturing assets and averting the need to develop new oil and gas fields.
The chair in Low Net Carbon EOR (Enhanced Oil Recovery) is funded by Energi Simulation, a Calgary-based not-for-profit, which promotes and financially supports research and development and graduate students through research grants at universities. Energi Simulation's financial support of CAD 540,000 (£346,000), over a three-year term, would be matched multiple times by industry, government and university contributions amounting to over CAD 6 million (£3.85 million) in total programme funding.
Its successful and award-winning programme, at the university's Institute of GeoEnergy Engineering (IGE), was established in 2011 and has led to the graduation of 60 PhD students, resulted in over 360 publications and raised over £23.5 million in research funding. The new appointment will help to further grow the research activities in energy transition.
Duke Anderson, President of Energi Simulation, said: “the decision to support Professor Skauge at Heriot-Watt University was a natural one for Energi Simulation. We have a long-standing relationship with Professor Skauge and HWU having provided support to both for over a decade. We are excited to continue to include Professor Skauge in our unique, global network of energy resource modellers!”
In recent years, in response to the need to decarbonise, both organisations have changed focus; Energi Simulation from the use of oil and gas reservoir simulation to wider energy resource modelling, and within IGE, from petroleum engineering to more general geoenergy engineering.
Professor Eric Mackay, who holds the Energi Simulation Chair in CCUS (Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage) and Reactive Flow Simulation, explains:
“The acceleration of the energy transition requires both decarbonisation of whatever remaining oil and gas production there will be, and also use of geoscience and subsurface engineering skills to store and recover clean energy and sequester carbon.”
“Our research, and research-led teaching, will benefit hugely from the appointment of Professor Skauge. His unique and distinguished industry and academic experience will strengthen the university's reputation for industrially applied research in support of the transition to a low-carbon energy future.”
Professor Skauge said: “I'm very pleased to be appointed to this new Energi Simulation Chair at Heriot-Watt University. There has been an extensive and very productive cooperation with the university over more than 20 years. For the last 10 years I held the Energi Simulation Chair in EOR, but now the focus shifts to Low Net Carbon EOR and Energy Transition. The programme will address both cleaner and more energy efficient hydrocarbons, and focus on low net carbon production, and also utilise our competence to improve the quantification of subsurface storage capacity for both CO2 and Hydrogen, contributing to the development of economically viable renewable energy.”