Contact Sandra Piazolo (S.Piazolo@leeds.ac.uk) Employer University of Leeds State/Province England (United Kingdom) Title Research Fellow (Full-time) Employment Dates Apr. 2020 — Jul. 2020 Duration 100% (3 months) Tasks and Duties I was Research Fellow in Sustainable Geoenergy Solutions tasked by Professor Sandra Piazolo with opportunity mapping Legacy Geo-Assets in Yorkshire. I was directed to work with Nicholas Shaw (Reynard Clough Geological Consultancy Ltd and Professor of Environmental Policy James Van Alstine and his postdoctoral research assistant Dr Rattle. We produced policy and with a wider group led by Dr Anne Velenturf we produced a peer-reviewed journal paper that integrated off-shore wind with on-shore geo-assets.
Refs Using the underground to fight climate change I Rattle, J Van Alstine, E Peterson, N Shaw, S Trimby (2020) Policy Leeds, University of Leeds
Geoscience Solutions for Sustainable Offshore Wind Development APM Velenturf, AR Emery, DM Hodgson, NLM Barlow, AM Mohtaj Khorasani, J Van Alstine, EL Peterson, S Piazolo, M Thorp (2021) Earth Sci. Syst. Soc. 29 (1), 23 Representative Projects This was a 120-day intensive pump-priming project to assist the teaching and research of University of Leeds School of Earth and Environment to transition from fossil fuels to exploit the growing opportunities to exploit off-shore renewable energy generation. I worked in collaboration with fellow post-doctoral research fellows and their supervisors to map the opportunities and challenges to exploit the opportunities and challenges of legacy geo-assets of Yorkshire to store and dispatch renewable energy generation.
I reviewed the necessary physical and mechanical characteristics of subsurface geo-assets to qualify as feasible storage sites and infrastructure for heat and electricity. I produced geological 3D models to quantify the capacity of the different subsurface storage sites available, overlaid by demand heat maps. I framed the opportunity to repurpose Yorkshire legacy assets in the context of UK wide available assets in terms of nature, size and variability.
I negotiated licensing of numerous datasets owned by the British Geological Survey and the UK Coal Authority. I provided analysis that determined the are about five billion cubic meters of abandoned underground coal mine voids under Yorkshire and a number of very deep closed shafts. I assessed the capacity of the shafts for gravitation potential energy storage and dispatch, and conducted a case study linking flooded mine workings in Leeds to be integrated as a thermal energy store for the district heating scheme. I also mapped where natural aquifer thermal energy storage may be practical. I also investigated opportunities for salt caverns to serve as storage for compressed air and/or hydrogen but determined that most plausible on-shore areas have already been developed for natural gas storage, and that the largest opportunity is likely to be to develop offshore Permian formations. I identified one interesting coastal site at Robin Hoods Bay where methods might be developed, but being in a National Park would likely preclude development on this site. At the end of my short and intensive participation in the project I concluded tin my reports that further R&D is required to fully optimize the repurposing of legacy geo-assets of Yorkshire, but that there are clearly suitable sites in the Vale of York of ground source heat pumps to be installed at minimal capital cost. I also identified areas where high density heat demand of horticulture and housing are likely to justify development of district heating networks that could exploit legacy geo-assets if Geotechnical Engineers could assess the local state of local minewater flooding.