Hosted with thanks to our Platinum sponsor SLB

Gold Sponsors Katalyst Data Management and Applied Geoscience

PESA WA invites you to our Christmas technical luncheon on Thursday 15th December

“HISTORY OF ENERGY TRANSITION: What have the Romans (Geoscientists) ever done for us?”

Presented by Mark Lisk – Chief Geologist Ascendience Geoscience

Mark will deliver a light-hearted whimsical review of the ongoing human energy transition, reflecting on the role played by geoscientists (Romans). Starting in the paleolithic, when catching and eating animals produced a bigger brain, only a bunch of cave paintings, hieroglyphs and a few cartoons of Larsen remain to attest to the beginning. Discovering fire, the burning of carbon-based materials to gain heat, cook food and scare the crap out of everything else was when problems began, pretty much right away. Cutting down most of the trees, we ate a buffet of wild animals, whilst rejecting early versions of the paleo diet, we ruined our teeth. Weapons we could turn on ourselves when the animals became too few led to millennia of conflict. Life was good but most of us died at birth or in early childhood, survivors taken out mostly by a variety of sexually transmitted diseases or in pointless bloodthirsty battles, rich in toxic masculinity. Compulsory superannuation was still in its infancy.

The Chinese “invented” coal 3500 years ago, the Romans dabbled after the birth of Christ, but not until the 18th century did coal really have its moment, basking in long forgotten sunlight. Powering the industrial revolution, perfecting child labour and blackening the skies, mass production and the energy to move it quickly to consumers was delivered. About the same time a crazy colonel struck oil in Pennsylvania, saving the whales and irrevocably shifting global power away from empire. Soon we had a tiger in our tank, driving our gas guzzling automobiles to the store or enjoying a new past-time known as a vacation.

Fossil fuels, more than any other enterprise, have powered human development, improved living conditions beyond our wildest imagination, dramatically increasing human life expectancy. For millennia improvements relied on replacing one energy source with a more energy dense and efficient one. How do we transition to future fuel sources that are inherently less dense, less efficient and with a footprint dwarfing anything that has come before? So, what have the Romans (aka Petroleum Geoscientists) done for us? What role does a mere rock doctor play in this new world, do we remain relevant or are we destined to the dust bin of history having done all we could to lay down the next super source rock?

A short branch AGM will be held before the talk. If you would like to nominate for the committee, please go to this link.

Each lunch ticket includes networking drinks at Metro Bar afterwards.  No admittance to the drinks if you have not purchased a lunch ticket.

Ticket Prices:

Please note changes to the end of early bird pricing which now closes 1 week prior 

Member (Early Bird): $79.00

Concession Member [Retired, Graduate or Hardship] (Early Bird): $69.00

Student Member (Early Bird): $49.00

Non-Member: $109.00

Member (Non-Early Bird): $89.00

Early bird pricing ends Thursday (1 week prior) at 5pm (AWST). All ticket sales close at 5pm Tuesday (2 days prior).

Refund Policy: Refunds are only applicable if notified in writing to WA-secretary@pesa.com.au prior to the close of ticket sales. Refunds will be issued to all participants in the case that government regulations prevent the event taking place.