Winter School 2017 Blog: Day one at the Winter School

This blog was submitted by Hisham Al Baroudi

The first day of the UKCCS Winter School 2017 started off with strong enthusiasm. Upon arrival to the Nottingham Campus, and introduction to the Energy Technologies Building, a number of researchers selected to present their research through A0 posters, began their set-up in an exhibition area. That was the first opportunity to meet fellow researchers and exchange a discussion about research plans, topics and facilities available. Shortly afterwards, lunch was served in the presentation room where sandwiches and a variety of other refreshments and a further opportunity to meet and greet the participants. The Winter School then officially started under the remarks of Professor Colin Snape, who introduced a variety of visitors and experts of the CCS field which would be giving presentations in the following two days. It has been really exciting to have the opportunity to receive such a broad and detailed insight of the field from a variety of different prospective, technical and non-technical, often complementary or in any way necessary for the further understanding of our own specific project. The first presentation, given by Dr Richard Millar, proposed a broad introduction on the background of CCS, allowing to develop a flexible thinking on the ‘physics’ involved in carbon emissions and global warming. The most interesting talk in my opinion was given by Theo Mitchell who was giving a presentation about the current status of CCS in the UK; despite not being strictly technical, the talk allowed to gain a very broad understanding of the relevance of CCS not only on a national scale, but also on an international one.  Gaining the feeling to be working on such a relevant field, which has the power to affect policies and investments, made me feel more enthusiastic with the overall picture. The afternoon progressed with interesting presentations on how to decarbonize the heavy industry and a presentation on the ROAD project, allowing to see and identify the gaps that industry is trying to bridge in order to make CCS an everyday application; after a quick break where we went back to our rooms to get prepared, dinner at ‘La Petit Paris’ was nicely organized in order to share some good time with the other colleagues; it has been extremely interesting and pleasant to dine and exchange conversations with so many new people, definitely a personal enrichment and a professional development. The 3 course dinner was very enjoyable, with a selection of French cuisine and desserts, definitely the best way to end a productive day!