Exploring Petroleum Futures

Last night, more than 20 Energy Explorers shared innovative solutions with stakeholders from government, communities, and the oil and gas industry

Transitioning our world to a net zero energy system will not be a simple task. Infrastructure and societal requirements developed over more than a century will have to be assessed, renewed, and in some cases reimagined. This will be a generations-long project, and its future leaders are the students of today. 

Last night, more than 20 of those leaders showcased research that will contribute to the global energy systems transformation at Exploring Petroleum Futures, an event hosted by Future Energy Systems (FES), the Land Reclamation International Graduate School (LRIGS), and the Centre for Energy and Minerals Processing (CEMP). Sponsored by the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP), the event brought stakeholders from government, industry, and communities together with University of Alberta graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. All of these young researchers have completed the Energy Explorers program, which trains them to communicate their complex research to general audiences in non-academic settings.

Explorers are accustomed to demonstrating concepts from their research in science centres, classrooms, public libraries, and major community events like Edmonton’s K-Days. At Exploring Petroleum Futures, their audience was focused on stakeholders who work in various aspects of the oil and gas industry, whether related to extraction and processing, or to addressing the environmental impacts of the sector on our land and water.

Showcasing research related to carbon capture, hydrogen, land and water reclamation, and the deployment of artificial intelligence and machine learning, Explorers spent the evening introducing innovative, out-of-the-box solutions to enduring challenges, and painting a picture of a net-zero energy future that can successfully evolve from the hydrocarbon-based system which has brought our society to the present day. 

During the event, Claire Hafner, CAPP’s Senior Advisor for Alberta Policy and Strategic Outreach, offered her thanks to the Explorers, and signalled the importance of their innovative solutions to our society’s drive to net zero. 

Sarah Wilkinson, Assistant Director of LRIGS, spoke to the importance of working with industry to protect land and water resources affected by all forms of energy development. 

Director of CEMP and FES Researcher Dr. Arvind Rajendran spoke to the importance of making complex research accessible to non-technical audiences, and invited industrial partners to work with U of A researchers to get solutions into the field. 

Finally, FES Program Manager Samuel Ferraz encouraged all students to continue developing their communication skills, which will help them build careers that interface with stakeholders outside the research world.  

Last night was the first in a series of three Exploring Petroleum Futures events, with the second scheduled to take place in the fall of 2025. To stay up to date about upcoming Future Energy Systems and Energy Explorer events, subscribe to our newsletter.