This event will offer structured, expert-led sessions designed for academics and professionals, as well as participants interested in delving into specific topics.

Workshop 1: Basics of Coal & Coalbed Methane

Course Description

This one-day workshop explores the fundamentals of coal and coalbed methane. Both of the instructors are geologists and have spent their careers in exploration and so that is how the course is slanted. 

The uniqueness of the course is that it is rooted in scientific understanding of the coal reservoir as, firstly, a mire depositional system where most of the later properties are initially determined. The course then follows this basic understanding of how coal forms to how this influences the ways in which it behaves as a gas reservoir. 

The course covers how coal is a multifaceted energy source and then how we measure those properties for the extraction of gas. We examine what are the important characteristics and what are essential to measure in order to commercialise a coalbed methane resource. One of the most defining characteristics of a coalbed methane deposit is the co-produced water and this, too, is covered in the workshop.

A key part of any coalbed methane program is quantifying gas resources and reserves and the methods to do this are elaborated. Finally, we give a closing presentation on where gas in coal goes from here, both in extraction as well as in quantification methods. 

Presenter: Dr Romeo M. Flores (Denver, Colorado, USA)

Romey is an Expert with Gerson Lehrman Group (GLG), Inc., New York, NY, USA as well as Principal consultant, Geo. Sci. Tech Energy Resources, Golden, CO, USA. Dr. Flores served as a research scientist in the Energy Resources Center of the US Geological Survey from 1975 to 2010; professor and chair of the Department of Geology at Sul Ross State University, Alpine, TX, from 1966 to 1975; and adjunct faculty at several US universities and external PhD examiner for the Université de Liège, University of the Witwatersrand, and University of Natal from 1982 to 2010. Consulting geologist/ advisor to Anadarko CBM Group in Denver, CO, USA; AECOM/BLM CBM hydrostratigraphy-groundwater modeling for Powder River Basin in Fort Collins, CO, USA; and Shanxi Lanyan Coalbed Methane Group and Biogenic Gas Laboratory in Jincheng, China. Since 1995, Dr. Flores has served as an editorial board member of the International Journal of Coal Geology, edited international special publications, and organized US international conferences. Dr. Flores has authored/coauthored publications in coal geology, peat-coal depositional environments, sedimentology, stratigraphy, hydrostratigraphy, basin analysis, coal and coalbed gas resources assessment, coalmine methane, and biogenic coalbed gas in the United States and other countries. Dr. Flores is the principal author of Coal and Coalbed Gas: Fueling the Future, 2014, first edition, and forthcoming Chinese (translation) version. Dr. Flores is a recipient of several national and international awards: the US Department of Interior Distinguished Service Award, the US Geological Survey Meritorious Service Award, the Geological Society of America Gilbert H. Cady Award in Coal Geology, the University of the Philippines Alumni Award in Geology, the Philippines La Union Province Pammadayaw Award, and the University of Canterbury Angus Erskine Fellow Award. 

Presenter: Dr Tim A Moore (Brisbane, Queensland, Australia)

Tim is the Managing Director of Cipher Consulting Pty Ltd, specialising in the understanding of organic-rich sediments. Tim is a Non-Executive Director for OGT Energy Pty Ltd. in Brisbane and he is also an Adjunct Professor at the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Australia as well as Distinguished Visiting Professor at China University of Mining and Technology in Beijing and Xuzhou. He has held numerous Executive Management positions in industry and governmental organisations. His research encompasses paleoclimate, paleoecology of Mesozoic and Cenozoic sediments, primarily in Asia. He has worked and conducted research in Vietnam, China, Mongolia, Indonesia, Singapore, Scotland, Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa, Colombia, United States, Poland as well as New Zealand, Australia. He has acted as an Expert Witness for international arbitrations and for civil and criminal cases. He is also on the Editorial Boards of the International Journal of Coal Geology, Indonesian Journal on Geoscience and Mongolian Geoscientist. Tim has over 280 papers in internationally refereed journals, reports and abstracts. 

Workshop 2: AI for Coal Geology

Course Description

This one-day workshop invites participants to explore the evolving role of Artificial Intelligence for coal geology. Rather than replacing traditional methods, the course seeks to foster a dialogue between classical geological expertise and modern data science, viewing their synergy as a valuable complement for refining analytical precision.

Participants will delve into common machine learning and deep learning models, specifically as they apply to solving real-world geoscience problems. We move beyond theory into practical application, demonstrating how machine learning models can decipher the complex modes of occurrence of elements in coal and provide high-accuracy predictions for REY concentrations and higher heating values of coal. Finally, we will discuss recent advancements in coal petrography, specifically exploring the potential of deep learning for the automated identification of macerals.

Presenter: Professor Na Xu (Beijing, China)

Na Xu is a Professor at China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing). She is primarily engaged in the application of artificial intelligence in geosciences, with a particular focus on coal geology. She has published over 50 papers in peer-reviewed journals, including Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, International Journal of Coal Geology, Environmental Science & Technology, Energy, Fuel, and International Journal of Coal Preparation and Utilization, among others. She currently serves as a council member of the Chinese Society for Mineralogy Petrology and Geochemistry. She serves as a youth editorial board member for the Bulletin of Mineralogy, Petrology and Geochemistry and as guest editor for the International Journal of Coal Geology. She has been given the Best Oral Presentation Award at the International Workshop on Compositional Data Analysis (CoDaWork) and the Best Poster Award at the International Society for Organic Petrology (TSOP) annual meeting.