Geoscientist Online

Geoscientist Online 18.5.2007

A packed lecture theatre heard Glen Cayley (Vice President; Shell Global Exploration) deliver the fifth lecture in the Shell London Lecture Series for the general public. Dawne Riddle was there…

Society President Richard Fortey, introducing the lecturer, set the scene:

"We must all be aware by now that, alongside global warming is another approaching crisis - one even more certain and equally pressing, whose consequences, if we do not act now, could be every bit as severe. I mean of course the world's looming "energy gap", between our projected energy needs and our ability to fulfil them.

"A recent multidisciplinary meeting, organised last year by The Geological Society, concluded that ensuring the lights stay on is going to take everything we've got – conservation, renewables, nuclear, new sources of fossil energy and existing hydrocarbons. Our lecture this evening, Fuelling the Future tackles this serious problem."

The audience was treated to a presentation that encompassed movies and 3D images requiring the wearing of red/green spectacles.

An article about 3D visualisation of the subsurface, complete with 3D images, will appear in the September issue of Geoscientist, whose readers will each receive a pair of the latest fashion statement to hit Piccadilly.

The next lecture in the series, the last before a two-month summer recess, will take place on 7 June.  Given by Cambridge volcanologist Dr Clive Oppenheimer, the talk will be entitled "Eruptions that shook the world".