Research Associate in the global scaleup of CO2 storage for climate change mitigation

Location: South Kensington, London

About the role:

Applications are invited for a Research Associate to investigate the global scaleup of subsurface CO₂ storage for climate change mitigation. Energy systems models analysed by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have suggested that CO₂ storage must achieve rates of 10's of Gt CO₂ per year by 2050, implying energy infrastructure at a scale matching that of current oil and gas infrastructure. The use of CCS in these models is the leading control on the total costs of mitigating climate change. However, these models are lacking in realistic representations of CO₂ storage. They do not constrain deployment rates, either with top down limitations on technological growth, or bottom up constraints from the physical limitations of the reservoir systems. Furthermore, there is an absence of centrally compiled data reported in a self-consistent way on the annual amounts of CO₂ stored at industrial scale projects operating today.

What you would be doing:

The Research Associate will evaluate the potential for geographic, geologic, and techno-economic constraints to lead to bottlenecks in the development of large scale CO₂ storage globally. The Subsurface CO₂ Storage Research Group has developed a suite of models that evaluate the physical or techno-economic limitations to scaling up CO₂ storage regionally (See De Simone & Krevor, 2021 and Zhang et al., 2023). Additionally, the researcher will work with a consortium and stakeholders to continue the work begun in Zhang et al., (2022), to establish a register of annual amounts of CO₂ stored underground. Ultimately, we will construct models for plausible development trajectories that may be incorporated into energy systems models of the type used by the IPCC to outline techno-economic pathways for mitigating climate change.

What we are looking for:

We are looking for someone who meets the following criteria.

• completed or about to obtain a PhD, or equivalent, in the modelling and analysis of subsurface carbon storage, energy systems or integrated assessment models, or in a related field.
• It would be expected that the successful candidate would have a track record of publishing papers in leading journals.

Please read the Job Description and Person Specification for more information.

What we can offer you:

• You will be working in the internationally leading Subsurface CO₂ Research Group in the Department of Earth Science and Engineering at Imperial College London. We are a friendly and nurturing department that combines teaching and research in Earth Sciences with related Engineering disciplines.The topics we are interested in reach from blue sky Earth Science (e.g. Earth interior, surface, and its place within the solar system), to integration with related subsurface energy, environmental, mining and minerals Engineering.
• The opportunity to continue your career at a world-leading institution
• Sector-leading salary and remuneration package (including 38 days off a year)

Further Information

This is a full time, fixed term position for up to 2 years.

If you require any further details on the role please contact:

Dr Samuel Krevor (s.krevor@imperial.ac.uk).

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