LISTEN & LEARN
The eGEOs & MRCI Podcast, twice-monthly episodes on everything CCUS
In January 2022, the Midwest Regional Carbon Initiative team joined forces with eGeos, a virtual forum for energy geoscientists and the creative energy behind the popular eGeos podcast, to bring listeners a year-long podcast that will take a deep-dive into the fast-developing topic of Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage.
Dropping the second and last Fridays of each month, the podcast includes discussions with members of the MRCI team, as well as outside experts in a variety of CCUS-related fields.
“We will definitely be talking about the MRCI and the activities and research we are doing in connection to the Initiative,” says MRCI Outreach Task Lead and Battelle Geologist Autumn Haagsma. “But the goal of the podcast is to reach further afield. We’ll touch on the other DOE Regional Initiatives, but we’ll also explore timely topics related to CCUS both in the states and around the world. The purpose of this effort is to educate people about CCUS and create a meaningful dialogue about the technology and carbon management in general.”
The podcast is hosted by Dr. Rachelle Kernen, Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the Australian School of Petroleum & Energy Resources at the University of Adelaide. Kernen is a geological specialist who applies her skills in sedimentology/stratigraphy/geochemistry to CCUS and Hydrogen Storage. She is passionate about the energy transition, diversity-equity-inclusion (DEI), and science communication, which is how she came to host the eGeos podcast for the past two seasons.
“I’m excited to be working with the MRCI team on this partnership and really getting the chance to micro-focus on CCUS. I am a huge supporter of science communication and making science accessible for everyone and am so excited that this team shares that enthusiasm. I’m really looking forward to this new endeavor,” she says.
Listen to the eGeos Podcast, brought to you by the Midwest Regional Carbon Initiative on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, or whatever platform you tune in on!
EPISODE LIST
Season 2, Episode 15: Sherilyn Williams-Stroud, PhD, PG Research Scientist Illinois State Geological Survey and Research Associate Professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. With over twenty-five years of U.S. and international geological analysis experience in the government and industry sectors, Sherilyn discusses the importance of monitoring CO2 storage locations, improving diversity and inclusion in the geosciences, and how she was featured in the children’s book “Everyday Superheros” now available on Amazon.
Season 2, Episode 14: WeSolar, Inc.
Kristal Hansley, CEO of WeSolar, discusses the community solar project she started on Juneteenth 2020 and the value of projects like hers to elevate historically underserved communities and bring environmental justice to her region.
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Season 2, Episode 13: MRCI and Life Cycle Analysis
Battelle Research Scientist Joel Sminchak discusses his recent paper addressing Greenhouse Gas Life Cycle Analysis from CCUS operations and accessing information like that and more through the Midwest Regional Carbon Initiative.
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Season 2, Episode 12: Illinois CarbonSAFE
Rachelle and Autumn talk with Dr. Steve Whittaker, Director of Energy and Minerals at the Illinois State Geological Survey about the Illionois CarbonSAFE initiative. Started in 2016 to address the key knowledge/technology gaps on the critical path towards CCUS deployment, the initiative has grown to a pivotal program aiding in the development of commercial-scale CCUS in the states.
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Season 2, Episode 11: Energy Resources Division Department for Energy and Mining, South Australia
Dr. Betina Bendall, Chief Geoscientist of the Energy Resources Division Department for Energy and Mining, South Australia discusses the status of energy projects in South Australia. Dr. Bendall has a rich history of experience in the sector and offers ideas about combining green alternatives to a rapidly changing energy landscape.
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Season 2, Episode 10: Dr. Belladonna Maulinda
Belladonna Maulianda, Ph.D, P.Eng’s offers her perspective on the Energy Transition as an Upstream Advisor for PERTAMINA EP, the Indonesian state-owned oil and natural gas corporation based in Jakarta, Indonesia. Dr. Maulianda shares what it’s like to manage CO2 projects in a developing country, highlights the important role geomechanics has in evaluating the “seal” in developing CCUS projects, and describes how CO2 is used to drive geothermal fluid circulation.
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Season 2, Episode 9: University of Oslo
Should one utilize existing oil field infrastructure or explore new targets to store carbon? What is the controlling geologic and economic factors that influence those decisions? What’s the status of the Northern Lights project? Tune in to hear Drs. Rikke Bruhn & Sian Evans discuss!
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Season 2, Episode 8: Rene Jonk Subsurface Advisor
Are you curious about how to transfer your skills from a classic petroleum systems background to one that is impactful for developing CCUS projects? Additionally, how are energy companies coming to terms with managing their carbon footprint and meeting Net-Zero goals set by the Paris Climate Agreement? Tune in to the energyGeos an& Midwest Regional Carbon Initiative (MRCI) podcast to hear Rene Jonk Ph.D. Subsurface Advisor for Global Projects at Apache Corporation discuss these crucial topics.
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Season 2, Episode 7: University of Cincinnati
Too busy to read research papers about carbon capture and storage? Tune in to the energyGeos & Midwest Regional Carbon Initiative (MRCI) podcast to hear Dr. Dan Sturmer and Ph.D. Candidate Reza Ershadnia’s CCS modeling research at the University of Cincinnati. In terms of effectively locking carbon in the subsurface; which is more effective, siliciclastic or basalt reservoirs? Have a listen to hear their thoughts.
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Season 2, Episode 6: University of Wyoming School of Energy Resources
Tune in to hear the latest episode, featuring Kipp Coddington, Senior Advisor from the University of Wyoming School of Energy Resources.
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Season 2, Episode 5: Australian School of Petroleum and Energy Resources
Tune in to hear Drs Ulrike Schacht, Mark Bunch, Kathryn Amos and John Kaldi from the University of Adelaide talk about the history and future of CCUS/CCS in Australia.
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Season 2, Episode 4: Texas Bureau of Economic Geology
Tune in to hear Drs Sue Hovorka and Alex Bump from the Texas Bureau of Economic Geology, a research unit at The University of Texas at Austin that provides advisory, educational, technical, and informational services related to the resources and geology of Texas, the nation, and the world. Alex talks about transforming his career and skills in petroleum geoscience into carbon capture and storage and Sue shares her experience in monitoring CCS fields.
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Season 2, Episode 3: Pennsylvania Geologic Survey Economic Geology Division
Tune in to hear Kristin Carter from the Pennsylvania Geological Survey’s Economic Geology Division discuss some of the benefits of having CCUS related projects in the state of Pennsylvania, challenges geologists encounter related to CCUS projects, and career advice for individuals looking to undertake a career in CCUS.
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Season 2, Episode 2: From Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships to Regional Carbon Initiatives
Neeraj Gupta, Sallie Greenberg, Benjamin Wernette, and Wes Peck, leaders with the DOE Regional Carbon Initiatives programs (which are the newest iterations of the Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership [RCSP] program funded by DOE for nearly 20-years) discuss their past program successes and the future of the Regional Initiatives and CCUS.
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Season 2, Episode 1: eGeos and MRCI Collaboration
The first episode in the new eGeos and MRCI podcast collaboration. Host Dr. Rachelle Kernen will take year-long deep-dive into CCUS. This episode features Battelle’s Autumn Haagsma and Joy Frank-Collins, who discuss Battelle’s co-leadership of the MRCI, what to expect in future episodes, and their thoughts on science communication and community outreach.
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