SOUTHWESTAREANEWS
SHALE OIL AND GAS AND ITS IMPACT ON THE WATER INDUSTRY The Truths, Myths and Legends Speakers
Andrew Gunning Partner, RSKW Ltd
Dr Tom Arnot
Collaborative water industry research University of Bath @WIRCBath Sponsors RSKW Ltd and @WIRCBath
In November the South West Area investigated the truths, myths and legends of Shale Oil and Gas Exploration with RSKW Ltd. In a packed room at the University of Bath, around 70 attendees listened to Andrew Gunning, Partner at RSKW Ltd. Such was the demand for attending this event that the evening’s proceedings were also streamed live via the internet to an additional 65 people. This was a joint event with the Pipeline Industries Guild and CIWEM. Andrew Gunning described how shale oil and gas exploration was initially developed in the US. As an emergent phenomenon, this resulted in a rapid increase in onshore drilling using the evolving techniques of horizontal drilling and ‘fracking’. RSKW are part of a European consortium currently mid-way through the delivery of a €2.7 million project, researching the environmental aspects of Shale Gas operations.
Dr Tom Arnot, University of Bath, then gave attendees the opportunity to hear about WIRC@Bath and the WISE CDT. The Water Innovation Research Centre (WIRC@ Bath – go.bath.ac.uk/wirc) launched in November 2014 and is a major initiative between the University of Bath and Wessex Water. WIRC@Bath is a multi-disciplinary research Centre which tackles challenges around the whole water cycle via its key themes: urban water management, catchment area management, water supply from source to tap, wastewater collection and treatment, water in the circular economy, sensors and big data, water awareness and customer behaviour, and coastal & ocean engineering.
Launched in September 2014, the WISE CDT (Water Informatics: Science & Engineering Centre for Doctoral Training – www.wisecdt.org) is a joint initiative between the GW4 Alliance: the universities of Exeter, Bath, Bristol and Cardiff and EPSRC. The WISE CDT has forged strong links with the water industry internationally and is delivering ground breaking research integrating ‘big data’ with ‘smart technologies’ and ‘water infrastructure and engineering’ for sustainable future water solutions. An excellent evening bringing facts and substance to an emotive area and a look to the future for the water industry with what collaborative research might achieve. For those who missed it, the podcast is still available at: https://uniofbath.cloud.panopto.eu/Panopto/ Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=95104be1-1439-49bd8295-81959a618674
The project - known as SHEER (SHale gas Exploration and Exploitation induced Risks) is funded through the HORIZON 2020 programme. The project outputs will inform the legislation for and regulation of Unconventional Oil and Gas across the whole of Europe. www.sheerproject.eu In his presentation, Andrew reflected on experience gained from project work for UK water companies and the EU SHEER project, covering geological, groundwater and general environmental perspectives, as well as strategic risk management. In particular, Andrew’s talk considered risks to drinking water aquifers, the regulations in place to mitigate those risks and areas where further investigation is required. A lively question and answer session followed!
instituteofwater.org.uk
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