Making great STRYDEs in seismic imaging - Mike Popham

Seismic imaging is widely used across the energy sector. Historically that’s mainly been in oil and gas exploration but today, thanks to the nimbleness and affordability of STRYDE’s technology, it is increasingly playing a vital role in the development of emerging new energies.

The same technology is also being used far beyond the energy sector, for applications such as archaeology and it is even being used in Antarctica with the goal of understanding the icy moons of our solar system.

In the global transition to a cleaner, greener and sustainable future, the search and development of a mix of new energies, as well as other solutions such as Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS), which will reduce our CO2 levels is becoming increasingly urgent.

While there is much discussion about the upsurgence and potential of offshore wind and solar power, the source of many emerging energies lies beneath our feet, a hidden treasure and a largely untapped source of power and potential across the world. Geothermal energy, Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) and mining for the elements which are needed to support the transition, are among the emerging sectors that are expected to play a crucial part in the success of the journey to net-zero.

Gathering information on what lies beneath our feet is therefore very important to support these industries and high-density seismic imaging is the preferred method for this task. Seismic data not only delivers images of the geology underneath but also delivers important attributes of the different geological layers of substrata.

Seismic imaging has application across a wide range of sectors but until now, the cost of commissioning seismic imaging has been prohibitive and primarily only affordable for oil and gas companies who have used seismic extensively for many decades.

STRYDE’s new technology has been groundbreaking, removing cost, safety and environmental impact barriers across many industry sectors. We have replaced bulky, expensive equipment with lightweight, lower priced, easily transportable nodes which enable high quality imaging of the subsurface. Users benefit from significant cost efficiencies, while also dramatically lowering both the environmental impact and the health and safety risks of land seismic.

This affordability has opened up a world of opportunity, allowing those operating in geothermal, mining and CCS to explore projects previously untapped because the exploration phase was either uneconomical or impractical.

As technology continues to develop across all disciplines, we will see these sources of energy increasingly become a factor in integrated green energy strategies for governments around the world. Other commercial applications to date include hydrogen storage, helium exploration, civil engineering and Smart Cities projects across the globe.

In addition to these commercial applications, STRYDE is also keen to help advance the world’s scientific understanding wherever possible. This has led to a range of very different and hugely exciting applications where our technology is being used to reveal what lies beneath.

For example, STRYDE’s technology has recently been deployed in Antarctica in association with British Antarctic Survey (BAS) Halley VI Research Station and Oxford University to test their ability to operate on the icy moons of the solar system, technology which could ultimately help determine the presence of life elsewhere in the universe.

Similarly, STRYDE’s seismic nodes have also been used in archaeology when we responded to a request to use the technology to determine whether there were rooms buried beneath the famous Scrovegni Chapel in Italy. Further unusual applications which can’t yet be made public are in progress with several world class universities, particularly in connection to solving the world’s climate change challenge.

The world below our feet is exciting, full of potential and, as we race to combat climate change through the adoption of a net-zero future, it could hold the key to our future.

Mike Popham, CEO, STRYDE