Challenged by Carbon

Is there a low-carbon future for the oil industry? Faced with compelling new geological evidence, the petroleum industry can no longer ignore the consequences of climate change brought on by consumption of its products. Yet the global community will continue to burn fossil fuels as we manage the transition to a low-carbon economy. As a geologist, oil man, academic and erstwhile politician, Bryan Lovell is uniquely well placed to describe the tensions accompanying the gradual greening of the petroleum industry over the last decade. He describes how, given the right lead from government, the oil industry could be environmental saviours, not villains, playing a crucial role in stabilising emissions through the capture and underground storage of carbon dioxide. Challenging prejudices of both the environmentalists and the oil industry, Lovell ultimately assigns responsibility to us as consumers and our elected governments, highlighting the need for decisive leadership and urgent action to establish an international framework of policy and regulation.

Author Biography

Bryan Lovell holds BA and MSc degrees in geology from the University of Oxford and a Ph.D. from Harvard University. Following 12 years as a lecturer in geology at the University of Edinburgh and as a consultant to the oil industry, he worked for BP Exploration from 1981 to 1996, joining as Chief Sedimentologist, and subsequently holding positions as Exploration Manager and General Manager Ireland, International Exploration Manager with special responsibility for Middle East, and Head of Recruitment, BP Group. He is currently a Senior Research Fellow in Earth Sciences at the University of Cambridge, working on controls exercised by mantle convection on the elevation of Earth’s surface, and continues to provide consultancy advice to the oil industry. Dr Lovell was the Scottish Liberal Party energy spokesman from 1978 to 1979 and ran as a parliamentary candidate in 1979, finishing third out of five behind Michael Ancram and Gordon Brown. He was awarded an OBE in 1989 for services to Anglo-Irish relations and has recently been elected President-designate of The Geological Society of London (2010–2012).