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Dr Julien Mouli-Castillo

Academic Visitor in the Department of Earth Sciences

                        

University student
It is fantastic to explore how the ancient and natural world contained in deeply buried rocks can be used to support a sustainable future at the surface.

Dr Julien Mouli-Castillo
Academic Visitor in the Department of Earth Sciences

What do you do?

I am a Marie-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Glasgow (UofG), UK. Born in France, I have now lived over half my life in the UK. Initially interested in reef conservation, I was attracted to the idea that the subsurface could support the energy transition during a final year project on enhanced coal bed methane recovery. Since then, I have worked extensively on technologies such as carbon capture and storage, compressed air energy storage, hydrogen storage and geothermal energy from disused mines, with the aim of supporting developments towards a greener, fairer, society.

How are you involved in this area of science? 

Following my BSc in Environmental Geosciences from UCL in 2012, I undertook an MSc in Carbon Capture and Storage at the University of Edinburgh (2014). I remained at Edinburgh for my PhD (2018), investigating the UK’s offshore potential for seasonal storage using compressed air energy storage in saline aquifers. More recently, I have worked on how we could use disused flooded mines as a means to provide affordable heat to buildings. My worked involved developing novel numerical tools in collaboration with researchers and industry.

What do you love about this topic?

It is fantastic to explore how the ancient and natural world contained in deeply buried rocks can be used to support a sustainable future at the surface. More practically, I love the opportunities this work offers to learn technical skills and develop insightful collaborations. For me understanding these hidden and complex systems on which only limited data are available is an exercise in capturing the essence of the system under consideration to derive valuable understanding. I find this work almost meditative at times.

How does this work deliver real-world impact?

The research has to be undertaken with the input of key stakeholders and enablers. A critical element is to communicate the science to the general public to inform about the alternatives to fossil fuels, and the consequences of transitioning to a decarbonised society. The technologies I work on are too large and complex to be developed by the public and hence working closely with policy makers, regulators and industry is key to seeing these technologies and their benefits to society realised.

Find out more:

Disused mine workings beneath Durham University Campus

Find out more

Discover the work of GEMS (Geothermal Energy from Mines and Solar Geothermal Heat) and find out more about the impact their work is having on how we look to heat our homes in future.

Explore GEMS

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Meet more of the brilliant minds exploring the Geothermal Energy potential of mine water! Explore the experts driving real world change and ground-breaking discoveries in this fascinating field.