Whether and to what extent natural gas is better than coal or oil with respect to climate impact depends on how much of it escapes into the atmosphere during extraction and transport. Unfortunately, little is known about “fugitive” methane emission rates. With this gap in mind, the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), partnering with about 90 industry and academic partners, has launched 16 studies that aim to increase our understanding of methane emission rates from key elements of the natural gas system. This grant provides supplemental support for this series of studies, enabling EDF to compare and contrast the relative accuracy of a wide range of methodologies used to quantify methane emissions, and to assess existing and emerging methane monitoring technologies. Their findings, to be published in a final report, will aim to provide an impartial, evidence-based evaluation of the most promising technologies and methodologies for measuring fugitive methane emissions, identify additional research that is needed, and chart a path towards the commercialization and large-scale deployment of well pad methane monitoring systems.

The Bakken Shale in North Dakota and the Eagle Ford Shale in Texas are currently producing well over a million barrels of shale oil per day and have been largely responsible for the recent increase in U.S. domestic oil production and the reduction in U.S. oil imports. Understanding the productive capacity of these plays is essential to understanding how shale oil is likely to shape the future of U.S. energy production. Funds from this grant support a project by the University of Texas at Austin’s Bureau of Economic Geology (BEG) to model the current and future productive capacity of the Bakken and Eagle Ford shale oil plays. Using government and industrial data—some public, some proprietary—the BEG team will conduct a well-by-well analysis to determine the total oil and gas resources in each play, perform decline analyses; calculate current technically recoverable resources; assess acreage drained by existing wells and locations remaining to be drilled; and build a production outlook model that projects the development of acreage and economic reserves over the next 20 years in each basin, given a variety of assumptions about the pace of technology improvement, logistical constraints, and well economics.

Launched in July 2009, the Deep Carbon Observatory (DCO) is approximate 40 percent into its planned decadal span of research. Much of the original vision of the DCO came from geologist Robert Hazen. Hazen and his colleagues have effectively set in motion many streams of observation and analysis. The unusual scope of the DCO—from diamonds to life—presents great challenges for integration and synthesis. This grant provides three years of support for the hiring of one full-time postdoctoral researcher and one graduate student to assist DCO Executive Director Hazen as he initiates this process of synthesis and integration.

This grant provides two years of continued administrative and research support to the Deep Life Community of the Deep Carbon Observatory (DCO).  One of four scientific communities within the DCO, the Deep Life community is a multi-national consortium of scientists working to revolutionize our understanding of the quantities, movements, forms, and origins of deep life.  Subsurface microbial ecosystems may extend to 20,000 feet beneath the seafloor and continental surface, and studies of these deep, dark biological reservoirs suggest their total carbon content may rival all surface life.  Instead of tapping into solar power, deep microbial communities harvest energy from fuels such as methane and hydrogen sulfide or buried detrital matter to drive synthesis of macromolecules and reproduce.  Led by microbial biologist Mitch Sogin of the Marine Biological Laboratory, the Deep Life Community will use grant funds to extend molecular studies to a greater number of samples from high-value marine and continental sites and describe the diversity, distribution, and functional adaptations of deep life.  Experiments will explore life’s interplay with geological processes in the deep subsurface, including studies of microbial activities and distributions in hydrogen-­rich habitats which favor abiogenic synthesis of methane and higher hydrocarbons.  In addition, deep life researchers will explore the limits of deep life using improved life detection capabilities and develop and apply tracer approaches to track the flow of carbon into biomolecules and cells.

Funds from this grant provide two years of continuing administrative and research support to the Extreme Physics and Chemistry Community of the Deep Carbon Observatory (DCO).  One of four scientific communities within the DCO, the Extreme Physics and Chemistry Community concerns itself with crystals, fluids, and magmas at the high pressures and temperatures characteristic of deep Earth.  Supported research will extend measurements on carbon-bearing systems to previously inaccessible conditions, combining an extraordinary array of experimental techniques with careful computational studies on challenging chemical systems.  Under the direction of UCLA geophysicist Craig Manning, as many as 19 distinct research projects are envisioned during the next two years, with a focus on simultaneously conducting numerical simulations and laboratory measurements on the same physical properties of the same materials.  Also supported under this grant is the compilation and publication of a comprehensive open-access database of thermochemical properties of carbon-bearing minerals, melts, and fluids, as well as their mixtures, to lower-mantle pressure and temperature conditions.  The continued research of the Extreme Physics and Chemistry Community promises to contribute in powerful ways to the DCO’s goal of radically advancing our understanding of deep Earth carbon.

This grant funds two years of continued support to the Sloan Science-in-Film initiative by the Sundance Institute, which runs the Sundance Film Festival, the premiere independent film festival in the U.S. Funds will support five annual components of the initiative: a commissioning grant for a high quality feature film script that involves science, engineering, or mathematics; a feature film fellowship for a talented filmmaker interested in science-themed narratives; a $20,000 best Science and Technology feature film prize; a moderated panel discussion by filmmakers and scientists, and an awards reception.

Funds from this grant provide two years of funding to the Tribeca Film Institute for its ongoing efforts to support films and filmmakers that explore scientific and technological themes. With Sloan Foundation support, the Institute will award up to $150,000 each year to between three and six compelling narrative filmmaking projects that explores scientific, mathematical, and technological themes and storylines, or that feature a leading character who is a scientist, engineer, innovator, or mathematician. In addition to such financial support, Tribeca provides selected filmmakers with professional guidance and mentorship, including project notes, networking assistance, and exposure to financing and distribution executives. Funds from this grant also support a series of high profile events at the Tribeca Film Festival, including a screening and discussion series, readings of in-progress scripts exploring scientific and technological themes, and an awards ceremony and reception honoring winning filmmakers.