Gas Hydrates in Canadas North: Potential or Wishful Thinking

PRESENTER: M.A. D'Iorio, Ph.D.
Director General

DATE: Wednesday, December 9th, 2009

TIME:12:00 PM
(Cocktails at 11:30)

PLACE: Fairmont Palliser
Crystal Ballroom

Abstract:

Much progress has been made in the past 20 years in understanding the potential for natural gas production from gas hydrates. Initially identified as a potential drilling hazard and impediment to the transport of hydrocarbons and liquids in pipelines, gas hydrates are now viewed as a new potential clean energy source. Much of the international focus on gas hydrate is the resource assessment of marine deposits (e.g., Korea, India, Japan, Germany). In Canada, research is primarily directed at terrestrial deposits in permafrost regions, with minor activities in marine offshore on all three coasts. In 2008, Canada, in collaboration with Japan and the GNWT, was the first in the world to realize a successful production test by depressurization at the Mallik site located in the Mackenzie Delta.

This talk will present the NRCan / GSC program to map and quantify gas hydrate resources and advance the technical feasibility of in-situ natural gas production from gas hydrates. Our goal is to tackle the economic and scientific challenges in order to realize the potential of gas hydrates as part of future energy supply mix, which will change the face of the North American gas market.

Biography:

Dr. D’Iorio has had a longstanding career with the Government of Canada, starting in 1988 as a NSERC (Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council) Post-doctoral fellow. He has worked as a scientist and held a number of executive positions in the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing (CCRS) and in the Geological Survey of Canada. In July 2006, Marc was appointed Director General of the Geological Survey of Canada, Atlantic and Western Canada Branch.

As DG of the Geological Survey of Canada, Dr. D’Iorio is responsible for a suite of Programs that include: natural hazard geoscience research; 24/7 operations of the seismic and geomagnetic networks, and provision of emergency management information related to earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, landslides and geomagnetic storms monitoring Canada; conducting scientific surveys in the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans required to support Canada’s claim under the United Nations Convention on the Laws of the Sea (UNCLOS); federal geoscientific research on energy resources , including an international program with Japan on gas hydrates; and federal marine geoscience in Canada.

Dr. D’Iorio’s many accomplishments over the years include the creation of the Innovation Acceleration Centre at CCRS, which promoted technology transfer from government labs and generated over $15 M of new revenue for Canadian industry. Internationally he has led technology development projects in Asia and South America and was the Canadian lead in Earth observation for the Canada - European Union S&T Agreement. He has published and presented over 100 papers.