Nick Last delivered a fascinating Gaia Talk webinar on this topic, and here is a deeper dive and opportunity to discuss details after the presentation. Please join us!
Time
8am Perth, 10am Tasmania, 14 Aug 2025 // 7pm Americas Central Time 13 Aug 2025
Registration Link
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/1FJ7Sv7TSNeyLwlBFEirUA
Abstract
Energy is one of the hot button topics of the day. Our news feeds are filled with energy-related stories, often liberally sprinkled with terms like firming, storage, intermittency and capacity factor, as well as the basic terms "power" and "energy" - which sadly are often confused. Intermingled with the jargon is a plethora of units and acronyms: kW, kWh, PJ, eV, EV, LNG, LCOE, BESS and FESS and hundreds more. Without delving too far into the physics, Nick's talk will use the Australian Energy Landscape as a case study to provide some clarity around the basic concepts of energy and power, and will dive into some key examples to help sense check some of claims and counter claims that are made in this politically contentious field.
Bio
Nick Last is a consultant petroleum engineer specializing in the analysis of dynamic well & reservoir data. He began his career with Schlumberger in the North Sea and SE Asia, and has subsequently delivered consulting projects for numerous operators worldwide. His interest in broader energy matters was sparked during an Australian road trip, which by chance passed numerous wind and solar farms. Despite working for decades in the energy industry, he realized that he didn't really understand the nature of the power they produced, nor how they fitted into our energy system. Since then he's devoted considerable time to rectifying that knowledge deficit, and has written and lectured extensively on energy related matters. Nick is a founder of Well Test Knowledge International and holds a BSc (Hons) in Physics from Imperial College, London.
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David Shackleton
Program Chair, SDTS Gaia Study Group and Masterclasses
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