Fernanda M.L. Veloso is a senior geologist specialised in geological and reservoir modelling for geological storage purposes, mainly for CO2 storage. Before she joined the BRGM (Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières – French Geological Survey) and did her PhD (between 2011 and 2015), Fernanda spent almost 5 years in Total, an international oil and gas company, where she worked as wellsite geologist and as researcher in the project Deep Buried Reservoir at the R&D department.
You can connect with Fernanda on LinkedIn.
Science for change
Fernanda researches CCUS (carbon capture utilisation and storage) and geological storage. The theme can be broadly summarised as the set of methods and technologies involving carbon dioxide (CO2) removal from flue gas and atmosphere, CO2 recycling and long-term storage of CO2 in the underground.
The decision to pursue a PhD on the field of CO2 storage with focus on geological and dynamic modelling came after having worked for some years in the oil and gas industry. She is interested in having an active role in the mitigation of climate change. Fernanda: “I believe that the drastic reduction of our CO2 emissions will come through CO2 storage, not only for power plants, also and principally for other industrial processes: as cement, metallurgy, steel, etc.”.
The current research challenge
Fernanda is trying to solve the following question: how to accelerate the roll-out of CCUS (carbon capture utilisation and storage) technology? She is currently involved in two CCUS projects: CO2SERRE and STRATEGY CCUS. In CO2SERRE, funded by the French region, Fernanda is in charge of evaluating the storage capacity and the applicability of a reversible CO2 storage in the studied area in France. And Fernanda is the coordinator of STRATEGY CCUS, an ambitious three-year project funded by the European Union to support the development of low-carbon energy and industry in Southern and Eastern Europe. Fernanda: “We are focusing on eight regions considered promising for carbon capture, utilisation and storage. We aim to encourage and support initiatives within each region by producing local development plans and business models tailored to industry’s needs.”.
GeoConnecting the subsurface
Fernanda believes that by bringing a new way to visualise and understand geology through geomanifestations, GeoConnet³d will be a very useful tool to get the general public in touch with the importance of geology in our everyday lives. She also highlights the subsurface management as another important outcome of the project, as our society is accelerating the uses and exploitation of subsurface for distinct uses such as for energy production, waste storage, energy storage, water supply, and others. Fernanda: “The management of the underground resources and uses, taking into account the synergy and conflicts that could exist, is the key for a successful development of our society in the next years.”.