This year's conference theme: Subsurface for energy security and sustainability.
Centre director at NCS2030, Alejandro Escalona. All photos: Elisabeth Tønnessen/UiS
NPD director Torgeir Stordal.
From left host Tor Øyvind Skeiseid, Torgeir Stordal and Torfinn Harding.
PhD students presented their research.
Tina Puntervold.
150 participants attended the Energy Norway conference in Tjodhallen 13-15 March. They got the latest updates on energy security in Europe, as well as new research on water management in the workshop the first day of the conference.
Rector at University of Stavanger, Klaus Mohn, opened the conference.
"Our strategy revolves around green transition. The research at NCS2030 will contribute to provide the energy security needed in the years to come," Klaus Mohn said. He hoped the conference would help provide new knowledge and fruitful discussions.
Who will pay for energy research?
The last part of the conference programme was a session on how the research centres can contribute to energy security. FME HyValue, SFI Swipa, DTU Offshore and NCS2030 were represented in the debate.
"We need to invest in energy research. The industry puts too much effort in value creation, they don't have the patience to wait for results from the research centres. They want value creation quickly," centre director in NCS2030 Alejandro Escalona said.
Harald Linga in SFI Swipa agreed.
"We have short time to deliver, and we see strong competition among the vendors," he said.
"But at the same time we see a stronger willingness to invest in long-term research. The industry understands that commercialization takes time," Fionn Iversen at FME HyValue replied.
Morten Jeppesen brought the Danish perspective to the debate. He leads an offshore research centre at the Danish Technology University (DTU).
"Universities struggle to commercialize their research. Academia needs to use a language that resonnate with the industry. There is a culture barrier between the two parts," he argued.
Worried about future subsurface competence
One of the objectives at NCS2030 is to educate the future subsurface proffesionals. The goal is to educate around 15 PhD candidates.
"Who is going to do the job in the future? Is the industry helping us to get students? The answer is no. There is a process going on, but it is going very slow," Alejandro Escalona said. He thinks the lack of recruitment is a serious problem.
"Our students get jobs when they are finished. That's not the problem. The problem is the reputation of the business. Oil and gas and even well integrity have difficulties when it comes to attracting young talents," Harald Linga at SFI Swipa said.
Fionn Iversen said that there is a strong potential for attracting students from Europe.
In the end of the debate, Alejandro Escalona came with a request.
"If we are to accelerate our research to get faster results, we need resources. If we plan to save the world, more private funding is essential".