MSc Geoscience for Sustainable Energy

Course overview

You will be interested in the geoscience skills relevant to the sustainable and environmentally responsible extraction of natural gas, geothermal energy and mineral production to support the low carbon economy. Upon graduation, you will be able to demonstrate a broad understanding of all subsurface geoscience applications, alongside an in-depth technical knowledge of sedimentary geoscience and geophysics, rock mechanics and fluids evolution. You will have an interest in the lab-, computer- and field-based analysis and assessment. You will be interested in a career within the energy sector or academia, in the fields of petroleum geoscience, carbon storage, geothermal, nuclear waste disposal and gas/compressed air storage.

Course description

The mission of this programme is to develop the technical knowledge and skills required for graduating students to work in interdisciplinary careers that ensure the sustainable supply of energy and technology deployed to reduce atmospheric carbon by:

• supplying energy from the subsurface
• storing energy in the subsurface
• long-term atmospheric carbon storage
• storing waste from energy streams
• developing environmentally-sustainable solutions for sustainable future energy supply

This education and training will be facilitated by the integration of fundamental theoretical knowledge, field-, laboratory and computational tools, through blended learning, tutorials, seminars, field trip and group work.

In this programme, we train next-generation geoscientists in the skills needed to ensure the long-term, sustainable supply and storage of low-carbon energy. Graduates of this programme will be able to demonstrate a broad understanding of all subsurface geoscience applications, alongside an in-depth technical knowledge of sedimentary geoscience and geophysics, rock mechanics, fluid flow and pore evolution. This will equip students for employment within the energy sector, including in the fields of energy, heat and hydrogen storage, geothermal energy, geological carbon sequestration, gas/compressed air storage, environmental governance of hydrocarbon extraction, and nuclear waste disposal. The programme content has been designed following consultation with key players in the energy industry and the programme will be supported by an industrial advisory board from a diverse range of sub-surface disciplines/energy providers.

Aims

This course aims to:

• train next-generation geoscientists in the skills needed to ensure the long-term, sustainable supply and storage of low-carbon energy.
• provide you with the technical knowledge and skills required to work in interdisciplinary careers that ensure the sustainable supply of energy and reduce atmospheric carbon by (i) supplying energy from the subsurface; (ii) storing energy in the subsurface; (iii) reducing atmospheric carbon; (iv) storing waste from energy streams; (v) developing environmentally-sustainable solutions for sustainable future energy supply.
• integrate fundamental theoretical knowledge, field, laboratory and computational tools, through blended learning, tutorials, seminars, field trips and group work.
• provide you with the ability to demonstrate a broad understanding of all subsurface geoscience applications, alongside an in-depth technical knowledge of sedimentary geoscience and geophysics, rock mechanics, fluid flow and pore evolution.

Special features

Fieldwork is a central component of geoscience programmes. A number of one-day field trips will be run in semester 1, and a five-day field trip will run in semester 2.

Teaching and learning

Masters students have around 25 hours of contact time per week and are expected to spend around 25 hours in private study. Your week will be made up of:

• Lectures
• Small-group tutorials
• Laboratory classes
• Group work
• Individual research projects
• Computer-based tuition - a range of data handling, presentation and IT skills, and computer-based learning are taught on a dedicated computer cluster
• Workshops

Coursework and assessment

• Assessment is by a mixture of traditional examinations, coursework, laboratory practicals and workshops. Assessment methods vary widely to suit the nature of the course unit and each level of study.
• Examinations take place in January and May each year, with around one-third of the marks from continuous assessment.
• Lectures are usually assessed by written exams (calculation, short-answer or essay-based), which are held at the end of an academic semester.
• Practical units are usually assessed by the experimental report and/or short written assignment and/or written exam.