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Program Domain

Discovery Geosciences

Researchers in the Discovery Geoscience Program Domain work at the cutting edge of observation, measurement and simulation of fluid-rock processes through the use and development of methods that span the molecular and field scales.

Programs

SEM-Kaolinite
Program

Nanoscale Control of Geologic CO2 (NCGC)

Enhancing the performance and predictability of subsurface storage systems by understanding the molecular and nanoscale origins of CO2 trapping processes, and developing computational tools to translate to larger-scale systems.

Donald J. DePaolo [email protected] 510-486-7560

Program

Basic Energy Sciences (BES) Geochemistry

Studying the fundamental chemical controls on the structure, properties and evolution of rock-fluid systems in terrestrial and subsurface Earth settings.

Benjamin Gilbert [email protected] 510-495-2748

Program

Basic Energy Sciences (BES) Geophysics

Understanding the impact of fluids injected into the subsurface is essential for a host of activities that have material benefits for society. The long-term mission of the BES Geophysics Program is to improve our ability to monitor and image in space and time where injected fluids migrate and what alterations they make to the Earth’s subsurface.

Steven R. Pride [email protected] 510-495-2823

Program

Basic Energy Sciences (BES) Isotope

Developing and applying knowledge of stable isotope fractionation processes to provide insights into the controls on mineral precipitation and material transport in fluid phases.

Donald J. DePaolo [email protected] 510-486-7560

Background

The Earth’s subsurface is a vast realm that is immensely valuable not only for the production of energy and mineral resources, but also for the sustenance of surface ecosystems and for newer applications such as the storage of waste materials. Any activity that accesses the subsurface causes geomechanical, geochemical, and hydrological changes. These changes can drastically limit the effectiveness or longevity of a subsurface technology or resource, and cause unwanted impacts on other surface or subsurface systems. Two major challenges in subsurface science that are relevant to numerous aspects of the U.S. energy system are:

  • The effective and judicious use of subsurface systems requires better understanding of the complex processes involved in accessing and manipulating rocks and fluids under conditions of elevated temperature and pressure.
  • The safe and sustainable use of subsurface systems requires a significantly improved understanding of the basic links between subsurface systems, the biosphere and other geological resources—such as groundwater—upon which humankind relies. Our fundamental research is providing new science-based understanding of the functioning of pristine and perturbed subsurface systems.

The Discovery Geosciences Program Domain is part of EESA’s Energy Geosciences Division.

Program Domain Leads

Benjamin Gilbert
Discovery Geosciences Program Domain Lead
BES Geochemistry Program Lead
Senior Scientist

Reed Helgens
Program Operations Analyst

News & Events

EESA Awarded New Geothermal Projects Associated with FORGE

February 26, 2021

Seventeen projects have been selected to receive up to $46 million in funding from the University of Utah as part of the DOE’s Frontier Observatory for Geothermal Energy (FORGE) for cutting-edge, domestic, and carbon-free geothermal research. EESA will lead one of those projects, with David Alumbaugh as lead PI, and will participate in a second…

EESA Scientists Contribute to DOE GTO Research on Critical Minerals

February 24, 2021

  Scientists in the Energy Geosciences Division are contributing to research sponsored by the DOE Geothermal Technologies Office (GTO) investigating the potential extraction of lithium, rare earth elements, and other critical minerals that are dissolved constituents of hot geothermal brines that are used to produce  electricity. Far more information is currently needed, for instance, about…

Getting to Net Zero – and Even Net Negative – is Surprisingly Feasible, and Affordable

January 29, 2021

Reaching zero net emissions of carbon dioxide from energy and industry by 2050 can be accomplished by rebuilding U.S. energy infrastructure to run primarily on renewable energy, at a net cost of about $1 per person per day, according to new research published by the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), the University…

EESA Members Invited to Join Pod: Unlearning Racism in Geoscience

January 27, 2021

  This week marks the launch of a new education and training course called Unlearning Racism in Geoscience (URGE). Funded by the National Science Foundation and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, URGE‘s primary objectives are to (1) deepen the community’s knowledge of the effects of racism on the participation and retention of Black, Brown, and…

Six Scientists Awarded EESA Early Career Development Grants

January 26, 2021

  Six early career scientists have been awarded EESA Early Career Development Grants. Each project is aligned with the goals of the EESA Strategic Vision.  The EESA Early Career Development Grant (ECDG) program provides an opportunity for early career scientific staff to develop new concepts, tools, and approaches with the potential to complement/enhance existing EESA…

EGD Postdoc Fellow Receives Young Researcher Presenter Award

January 21, 2021

Pramod Bhuvankar, an EGD postdoctoral fellow working with research scientist Abdullah Cihan, received a Young Researcher Presenter Award during the 2020 Computational Methods in Water Resources conference in December. His presentation, “Pore-scale simulations of permeability decline in porous media due to fines migration,” described a pore-scale CFD study of clay mobilization in porous media due…

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