NERC Strategy Dave Tappin Unconventionals Workshop 24 th September 2014

What is NERC? Of all the Research Councils – NERC is primarily responsible for the environment It has a number of funding streams HEIs – pure science Research establishments – BGS, BAS, CEH, NOC – more applied NERC Innovation calls

NERC Innovation Sustainable food production Environmental data Infrastructure Natural resources Risk management Public policy

Natural Resources - The Issue “Looking across the sectors that provide growth in the UK's economy, and where a strong understanding of the environment is absolutely essential, it is hard to think of one where the need is higher than in oil and gas. It's vital that NERC contributes to ensuring growth with responsible environmental management for the industry.” (Professor Duncan Wingham, CEO NERC)

Mapping NERC expertise potential collaborations Reports on NERC centres and HEIs Mapping NERC Centres relevant to the Oil and Gas Industry Mapping industries knowledge of NERC, it’s scientific expertise and relevance

Oil & Gas current Activities Centre for Doctoral Training in Oil & Gas Oil & Gas Catalyst funding (completed) Oil & Gas Catalyst funding Oil and Gas Innovation programme

Centre for Doctoral Training in Oil & Gas NERC has invested £2·8m in a consortium of institutes led by Heriot-Watt University to host a new Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in oil and gas, The Centre will focus on creating a highly skilled workforce with expertise that can be used across the wider energy and environment sectors, as well as filling skills gaps in the oil and gas sector. This will equip the industry with the skills needed to reduce the environmental impact of oil and gas extraction. The consortium includes world-leading institutes in this field, such as Imperial College London, the universities of Aberdeen, Durham, Manchester and Oxford, and the British Geological Survey (BGS). The first intake of students will begin at the CDT in October 2014.

So Far - Oil and Gas Catalyst NERC has invested £800k in 'catalyst' projects that will engage the oil and gas sector in developing existing partnerships and building new ones 15 awards

NERC Oil and Gas Innovation NERC is currently developing an Oil and Gas Innovation Programme. The purpose of the oil and gas innovation funding call is to develop new partnerships and collaborations between researchers and the oil and gas industry and to build on existing partnerships and collaborations. The outputs of the oil and gas innovation projects call will help us explore four major themes through workshops and additional opportunities for the innovation programme.oil and gas innovation funding call

Four Workshops This programme will be informed by a set of workshops on the following themes: – Unconventional hydrocarbons (24 th Sept 2104) – Exploitation in challenging environments (17 th Oct 2014) – Extending the life of mature basins (?????????????) – Environmental impact and management (3 rd Dec 2014)

Strategy From the workshops determine synergies and potential partnerships, The focus is on Innovation – translation and co-ordination of existing research, Science opportunities raised can be developed under NERC existing structure Determine priorities, Decide on the number of funding calls Focus on environmental impacts £5 million available 3-5 year programme

Oil & Gas Innovation Programme Thank you