Jon Gluyas & Chris Sladen
Jon Gluyas. Jon is Director of the Durham Energy Institute at Durham University in northeast England. He is also the University lead on UK Industrial Strategy and is Professor of Geo-energy, Carbon Capture & Storage. Most of Jon’s career spanning 40 years has been in developing expertise in geo-energy delivery, technology, and research. In geothermal energy this includes the drilling of deep research wells. Also, his expertise covers petroleum development and production, carbon capture and storage and leading a team which developed and successfully tested a model for helium exploration, delivering the first new helium province in decades. In the past, Jon has co-founded and raised capital for energy companies and technology-driven companies and his work is well-known for transcending the industry/academia boundaries. In geothermal research, Durham University has become a national leader. Jon’s contribution to science has been recognised through many awards, including the Geological Society of London, which awarded him the Aberconway Medal in 2000 for excellence in the application of geoscience to industry.
Chris Sladen. Chris is an advocate for better energy solutions than the ones we have used so far! Chris is well known for laying a framework for co-investment between public and private sector energy companies, whilst explaining the different elements of project, contract, and country risk. He has a track record of helping governments and regulators to optimise private and co-investment, guiding the next steps for energy ventures, energy transition and climate strategies. Chris has a unique global experience having worked in over 40 countries where he gained direct experience on hundreds of wells particularly in the petroleum sector where he worked for many years. Chris’ experience includes on the Boards of companies, subsidiaries, business chambers and organisations, both in executive and non-executive roles. He is a non-resident fellow at the Institute of Americas focusing on low carbon policies and energy technologies, particularly geothermal and hydrogen. He has published extensively over five decades on energy matters and trends, technology, climatic signals in the rock record and the transformation of minerals and fluids in the subsurface. Chris’s contributions to the energy and education sectors have been recognised by the UK Government with both an MBE and CBE.