In early December, half a century on from when the oil and gas revolution started in the North Sea, UK scientists, activists, business leaders, and government officials head to Paris for global negotiations on binding climate legislation.
Many see it as a make-or-break event that will set the direction and pace of shifting to a low-carbon world. Given our past obsession with oil and gas, getting beyond petroleum will not be easy. Like any addiction, the hydrocarbon fix will be hard to kick. So how do we do it? And is it possible that we are really seeing on the horizon the demise of the petroleum age?
Professor Iain Stewart, Director of Plymouth University’s new Sustainable Earth Institute (SEI), will set the scene with a public talk, showing clips from his current BBC Four series 'Planet Oil: The Treasure That Conquered the World'.
Following the talk, Iain will host an open Q&A forum with a panel of leading SEI scientists who address different aspects of the complex business of getting ‘beyond petroleum’.
This event is open to all and is free to attend but registration is required via the SurveyMonkey booking link*.
Email sei@plymouth.ac.uk for any queries or for further information.
News release: Academic hosts BBC4 documentary about oil production (6 October 2015)
Planet Oil: The Treasure That Conquered the World (BBC Four: Wednesday 7, 14 and 21 October at 9pm)
Planet Oil: The Treasure That Conquered the World is a new series presented by Professor Iain Stewart, who visits the places that gave birth to the Earth's oil riches, discovers the people who fought over its control and supply and explores how our insatiable thirst for oil is changing the very planet on which we depend.
(* Please note that this event is available to book online through SurveyMonkey. SurveyMonkey is a third-party data capture tool which is not owned or managed by Plymouth University. Information about how your data is treated can be found on SurveyMonkey’s Privacy Policy webpage. If you wish to attend this event but do not wish to use SurveyMonkey to book your place, please contact the organiser directly.)