Tuesday, 11 February 2025 / Edition 45

Today, I’m going to talk about how an innovative combo (you know how much I love combos!) is providing environmentally friendly hydropower (i.e. without floods) and cover some incredibly cool advancements in self-driving tech. Let’s roll!

Sarah Compton

Editor, Enspired

Move Over, Tesla

AllinStock/Shutterstock.com

Atlas Energy Solutions recently delivered 100 loads of proppant to sites across West Texas using two self-driving trucks.

Why it matters: Autonomous truck developer Kodiak Robotics has been using driverless trucks to deliver for Atlas since July, but now Atlas is taking the wheel: it owns these new RoboTrucks.

• Before: During the July runs, Kodiak delivered Atlas’ fracturing sand along a 21-mile, off-road route in West Texas’s Permian Basin using Kodiak-owned driverless trucks.

• After: This time, Kodiak provided its self-driving technology to deploy in Atlas-owned RoboTrucks.

• Increased distance: Atlas is now able to complete its own driverless deliveries across the 75,000-square-mile Permian Basin in West Texas and Eastern New Mexico.

Atlas is planning multiple RoboTruck deployments throughout the year, intending to scale up considerably in 2025.

Behind the tech:

• The launch of these trucks coincides with the launch of Atlas’ Dune Express, a 42-mile long and fully electric system of conveyor belts that carry sand from Atlas’ sand facility in Kermit, Texas to an end-of-line loadout facility in eastern New Mexico.

• From there, it uses Kodiak’s Driver system to make deliveries across the Delaware Basin.

• Kodiak’s Driver system is modular (some of the modules are called SensorPods… which seems more appropriate for a dishwasher or washing machine... 😉).

• Their mapping strategy is one that includes immediate updates as the vehicle is in motion, rather than hyper-detailing static maps that might not catch recent changes such as construction and detours.

• The goal here is to reduce the number of truck miles on public road. Removing the human element from delivery provides a high level of efficiency, consistency, and safety. The new era is upon us.

I’m excited about what autonomous vehicles entering the energy space could mean for geoscientific field work.

Imagine the time you gain when your vehicle drives itself and you get more time for sleep, deep thinking, and even something as simple as being able to fully immerse yourself in your surroundings as you move through them.

Go deeper: Get more info about the RoboTrucks here.

A Message From MicroSeismic

In celebration of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science on February 11, AAPG and MicroSeismic are showcasing interviews from women leaders. This week's featured leader is Diane Woodruff from Occidental Offshore U.S. Here is a sneak peek from her interview:

“As geoscientists, we get to work on some of the biggest projects and challenges our world is facing. We also get access to some of the latest technologies to aid our interpretation and business plans. I thoroughly enjoy seeing how we as an industry continue to innovate and how it unlocks new opportunities globally.” 

The Ohio River Will Host New Hydropower Innovation

IR.MI Store/Shutterstock.com

Hydropower. The word tends to bring to mind images of giant dams, land behind the dam being flooded, and possibly even earthquakes when huge bodies of water are placed over tectonically unstable crust.

Those impacts are generally considered “not good,” calling to question the cost/benefits of hydropower as an environmentally friendly, sustainable, and reliable electricity source.

Without a giant dam, hydropower is more of an intermittent form of energy, dependent upon the flow of the river or stream it’s located across.

Two companies are coming together to address these issues:

• Current Hydro and Conifer Infrastructure Partners plan to start construction next year on a 28.5-megawatt hydroelectric power plant on the Ohio River in West Virginia called the Robert C. Byrd Locks and Dam Hydroelectric Project.

• The companies plan to leverage two existing and decommissioned lock chambers to locate two concrete powerhouses along a small portion of the Ohio River in Mason County, WV.

• The system will be powered by six Kaplan pit turbine-generators.

• It is expected to generate about 165,000 megawatt hours of carbon-free energy annually—enough to power more than 15,000 homes.

How the tech works:

• I couldn’t find an explanation reviewing the process in detail, but from what I can discern, the locks are going to act like tiny dams or storage ponds for the power plant, which will generate power when the locks are released.

• This effectively creates a run-of-release approach with little to no intermittency concerns, while still maintaining river oxygen levels and supporting the local ecosystem.

The project is supposed to come online sometime during the next couple years and will be worth keeping an eye on! Check out some more information here and here.

A message from AAPG Academy and ThinkOnward 

Register now to join AAPG Academy and ThinkOnward on 12 February at 9am CST for a free webinar covering a unique approach to geoscience data management using AI.

Expert speakers will share:

• A practical look at how AI is transforming geoscience data management by combining various types of subsurface information into searchable, location-tagged databases that you can easily navigate using specialized LLMs trained to understand geological terminology
• An overview of the technical aspects of building a reliable AI system for geoscience, including the use of OSDU-compliant data models and specific measures to prevent AI hallucinations while incorporating expert domain knowledge
• Current insights and early results from developing next-generation G&G workspaces, with an opportunity to contribute to the ongoing development through interactive discussion and feedback

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✉️ To get in touch with Sarah or suggest a topic for Enspired, send an email to editorial@aapg.org.