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CUTTING EDGE SOLUTIONS for COMMERCIAL CHALLENGES
NATURALRESOURCES
This publication can be made available in alternative formats on request. The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC005336.Designed by Graphic Design Services (LTW), The University of Edinburgh www.ed.ac.uk/is/graphic-design
Forests, Soil, Water
Earth observation techniques to map deforestation and degradation
Ground study techniques to study biodiversity, tree allometry, and forest carbon storage
Ecosystem services - Valuation of forests as natural capital;
forest finance initiatives - Analysis of land-use change, and of
carbon cycling
Water - Water remediation - Biogeochemical cycling - Sustainable urban drainage - Coastal marine biodiversity
and ecosystem services
Soil science, including biochar production and analysis
Hazard and Risk
Prediction and quantification of risk from natural hazards including:
- Earthquakes; prediction, estimation of magnitude, anticipated effect on local environment
- Volcanoes; prediction of eruption, airborne circulation of eruption debris
- Landscape dynamics; prediction and study of flooding and landslides, impact of climate change on future landscape dynamics
For more information contact:
Miss Ksenia SiedleckaCommercial Relations Executive
Phone: +44(0)131 651 3428Mobile: +44(0)7805 540 112
Edinburgh Research and Innovation Ltd is the University of Edinburgh’s research and commercialisation office. We engage with and support industry in a variety of ways:
• Technology licensing
• Consultancy
• Collaborative Research
• Studentships
• Strategic alliances
• Access to facilities/services
Transferring forestry knowledge to an SMEDr Casey Ryan supervised a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) associate for the SME LTS. The associate worked with LTS on the development of a tool for generating biomass, forest degradation, and deforestation maps, while spending a proportion of their time under the supervision of Dr Ryan. This enabled LTS to benefit not just from having a skilled graduate on board to help with the development of a new product, but from having regular access to a senior academic at the University.
Mapping deforestationDr Ed Mitchard collaborated with the SMEs Ecometrica and LTS to deliver a project on the methods used to measure the deforestation avoided by UK funded aid projects, for the Department for International Development. Dr Mitchard is also working with Airbus Defence and Space on a collaborative project involving the development of a novel processing chain that aims to use data from a recently launched radar satellite to map deforestation and forest degradation.
Driving forward carbon capture and storageProfessor Stuart Haszeldine was the driving force behind the inception of the Scottish Centre for Carbon Capture and Storage (SCCS), the largest carbon capture and storage research group in the UK. SCCS has established excellent links between academia and industry, having worked with 25 commercial organisations along the entire CCS chain in Joint Industry Projects. Additionally, active partnerships also exist with the Scottish regional Government, SEPA - the environmental regulator, and Scottish Enterprise.
Commercial Challenges, Cutting Edge Solutions
Our planet is home a wide variety of natural resources, and here at the University of Edinburgh our researchers are dedicated to understanding not only how to exploit these resources most efficiently, but how to do so responsibly and sustainably, for the benefit of all.
Our research spans everything from subsurface resources such as oil, gas, minerals, and geo-reservoirs that can be used for storing waste such as carbon dioxide, to above surface resources such as forests, soil, and water. We also look at the geological and ecological processes associated with the development of these resources, and how they can translate to natural hazards and risks.
Together with a range of commercial and non-commercial partners, our researchers are delivering solutions in the Natural Resources sector by:
Creating novel technologies and techniques that can be used to monitor, understand, and/or enhance the extraction of natural resources
Applying and developing these technologies commercially in partnership with industry and other end-users
Enhancing the growth of existing companies and powering the creation of new spin-outs
Delivering advanced multidisciplinary training in the various fields spanned by the natural resources sector
Some examples of our research strengths and its impact on businesses are highlighted opposite. Contact us to find out more about our innovative research and how it can benefit your business.
Key Areas of Research
Oil and Gas
Geophysical imaging; seismic and electromagnetic
Reservoir characterisation
Petroleum geology
Modelling and thermodynamic design for oil and gas applications
Techniques and technologies for enhanced oil recovery
Simulation of coupled processes for geo-reservoir understanding
Environmental monitoring of unconventional hydrocarbon extraction
Carbon Capture and Storage
Host to Scottish Carbon Capture and Storage (SCCS; http://www.geos.ed.ac.uk/sccs), and part of UKCCSRC (http://www.ukccsrc.ac.uk)
Geological expertise for ensuring safe and reliable CO2 injection and long term storage
Power plant engineering with carbon capture
Adsorbents for CO2, modelling and simulation of novel nanoporous materials
Techno-economics, policy and finance of CCS
Carbon Finance
Carbon markets, carbon pricing and accounting
Carbon risk management and regulation
Mapping and monitoring of forest carbon stocks
Supporting and advising voluntary carbon standards
Minerals and Mining
Factors affecting metal mobility in soils and sediments
Extraction of phosphorus from sewage effluent using iron ochre from mine waters
Phytoremediation of land contaminated with heavy metals
Computational chemistry approaches to high-value mineral collection
Understanding hydrocarbon reservoirsProfessor Rachel Wood co-leads the International Centre for Carbonate Reservoirs, a research partnership between the University of Edinburgh and the University of Heriot-Watt that is sponsored by BG Group and Petrobras, and aims to address challenges associated with the extraction of hydrocarbons from carbonate reservoirs.
Monitoring fugitive gas emissionsDr Stuart Gilfillan has been working with the Scottish Government, NERC and the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency in association with Dart Energy Europe Ltd, Cuadrilla and Reach Coal Seam Gas Ltd to establish new methods of fingerprinting natural gas. Knowledge of the fingerprints present in deep methane will allow any fugitive emissions from unconventional gas extraction activities to be distinguished from natural sources. The methods can also be used to monitor the integrity of carbon capture and storage sites, and were used to disprove allegations of CO2 leakage from the Weyburn-Midale Storage and Monitoring project in North America.
