This blog is written by Catrin Harris, a PhD researcher at the Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London. A physicist by background, Catrin looks into storing carbon dioxide within underground rocks to help combat climate change.
How can physics help answer geoscience questions?
Climate change is a global issue which requires many different skills and solutions to tackle. That’s why I, a physicist, am doing a PhD in Earth Science. I work on carbon dioxide (CO2) geological storage, which is one part of a climate mitigation approach called Carbon Capture and Storage, whereby CO2 is captured, transported and then locked away rather than being emitted into the atmosphere and contributing to further climate change.
What first sparked my interest in geological carbon storage was the anticipated future scale of the technology. Many gigatons (lots!) of CO2 needs to be stored in deep underground rock formations, and it must remain locked away for hundreds of thousands of years.
Safe geological storage relies on understanding the processes which trap CO2 in the pore space of the rock. The pore spaces are over a million times smaller than the storage site: I find it fascinating that what happens at a micro scale impacts what happens at the kilometer scale!
A broad range of techniques and skill sets are needed to investigate a technology spanning such a range of scales. And that’s where physicists like me come into the picture! My research aims to understand the physics that underpins how CO2 is trapped within porous rocks.
Where climate solutions and physics meet!
I use specialist techniques to image what is happening inside the structure of a rock. I want to ‘see’ inside the pore space of a rock, in 3D, and in real time, so I can capture and study the processes evolving. To start with, I used a medical-CT scanner, the same as those used in hospitals. As my project has advanced, I’ve needed even more powerful tools such as synchrotrons to image rocks at the smallest resolution possible. Synchrotrons are the world’s most powerful x-ray source and during my PhD I have travelled to Australia and France to use these international facilities. The synchrotrons work by accelerating x-rays around a huge ring before they are fired into my rock samples.
Before I started my PhD, I didn’t know much about geoscience or rocks- I just wanted to learn about the world around me, and how we can protect it. I grew up in the countryside and love being in nature, and wanted to keep my research focused on natural systems. Now, I use my knowledge of physics to study geoscience for climate mitigation. This felt like a natural transition: Earth Science is where climate solutions and physics meet!
If you’re thinking of applying yourself to a new subject like I did, here are the three things I have learned:
- Don’t be afraid to try something new.
- You bring your own unique skill set to the table.
- It is OK not to know everything, you will learn as you go: be honest about the limits of your own knowledge and take advantage of opportunities to learn.
The success of geological carbon storage, and other climate change solutions, depends on the collaboration and transfer of skills between researchers of different subjects, countries, and expertise. Only by working together can we implement the changes we need to protect our planet’s future!
Bio photo: Catrin using the medical CT scanner at Imperial College London to image the process that trap CO2 inside the pores of rocks. Photo credit: Catrin Harris.
Great work Catrin – Literally Petro – Physics! The multidisciplinary nature of “Earth Science” makes it such an interesting subject. It is also the reason that it is disappearing from school curricula, because it is “not a proper science”. It beggars belief, since the Earth literally depends on Earth Science!