Summer - Royal Scottish Geographical Society

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An Expert View: Women in Geography Women in Geography “...women have been producers and teachers of geographical knowledge since the foundation of the British geographical societies and university departments of geography – and a significant number of these women were born and/ or lived and worked in Scotland.” It is a common misperception amongst undergraduates that women geographers only began contributing to the discipline in the 1970s. Members of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society are better placed than most to appreciate that this is not the case: women have been producers and teachers of geographical knowledge since the foundation of the British geographical societies and university departments of geography – and a significant number of these women were born and/ or lived and worked in Scotland. Mary Somerville, born in Jedburgh, wrote Physical Geography in 1848, which was credited with being the first British text of that title and welcomed by the geographical establishment and a wider readership, going to seven editions. Isabella Bird’s travel accounts were immensely popular in the second half of the nineteenth century and she was honoured by the RSGS. Marion Newbigin is often the first woman’s name to spring to mind in association with the society. She was born in Alnwick and graduated BSc and DSc from Aberystwyth, but lived and spent most of her professional life in Edinburgh, where she worked on Challenger findings and taught at the Extra Mural School of Medicine for Women. More than that, her career was inextricably connected with the Society through her 32 years as assistant and editor of the Scottish Geographical Magazine and it is for her influence as editor she is principally remembered as a ‘founding parent’ of Scottish geography. In 1923 Newbigin and travel writer Ella Christie were the first women to sit on the Society’s Council (the Manchester Geographical Society appointed women to its first council in 1884, but it was 1930 before the Royal Geographical Society followed suit). Newbigin was also a prolific author who influenced debates on regional geography, the scientific method in geography and teaching techniques, as well as initiating much of what became biogeography. This interest in links between plants, animals and geography influenced two other women who were to be involved with editing the SGM. Isobel Wylie Hutchison, Arctic traveller and plant collector, became Honorary Editor of the journal between 1944 and 1953 (the first woman to hold this post); and leading biogeographer Joy Tivy, Lecturer and later Professor of Geography at the University of Glasgow, was editor 1954-63. Lois Latham, Harriet Wanklyn and Catherine Snodgrass were also editors for brief periods. Combined, women served the SGM in editorial capacities for 60 years in the early to mid 20th century. Edinburgh University had a strong record of appointing women academics in the interand post-war years. Alice Lennie, assistant to George Chisholm, may only be recognised by a few, but the names of Winifred Day, Betty Third, Kay MacIver, Swanzie Agnew and Catherine Snodgrass will be familiar to many and no doubt bring back memories of lectures, map classes and field work. As head of department MacIver directed the growth of geography at St Andrews; Swanzie Agnew taught at Fort Hare in South Africa, only to be deported when the university was closed down as a centre of anti-apartheid politics; Snodgrass was also deeply political, expressed through her commitment to researching Scottish geography and support for the Scottish National Party. Peggie Hobson, developed a love for Scotland when a student and she spent eight years lecturing at St Andrews 1945- 53, publishing several articles in the SGM on the parishes of Sutherland. Although she spent most of her professional life in South Africa and London, Hobson retired to Edinburgh and will be remembered for curating the society’s centenary exhibition on The Spirit of Adventure and Discovery 1884-1984, including a special section on women explorers. There are many other women who contributed to geographical knowledge and the work of the society, but I hope this sketch gives a flavour of the variety of their interests and the significance of their work. However, when looking at the history of the discipline there are always puzzles remaining: why was there a thirty two year hiatus between female editors of the SGM 1967-1999 and why did the Edinburgh department go from 3 female lecturers in the 1950s to none in the early 1960s? Answers on a postcard please! Avril Maddrell Department of Geography and Environmental Management, University of the West of England (avril.maddrell@uwe.ac.uk) To receive 20% off this title visit www.wiley.com and enter promotional code VA189 at the checkout.* *Expires Jan 2010
Burying carbon dioxide Geographer The An Expert View: Carbon Capture and Storage 12-13 Summer 2009 In Scotland, and the UK, most of our electricity is generated by combustion of coal or of gas. We accept this benefit without much thought, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. But it has become more clear during recent decades, that there are environmental consequences of this consumption. At present, CO 2 is emitted to be disposed into the atmosphere at no direct cost to the electricity generator, or the consumer, but this additional CO 2 disturbs the complex, but naturally balanced, flows from biosphere, to atmosphere, to hydrosphere, and burial in soil or sediment. Two separate effects occur. Firstly, the atmospheric CO 2 dissolves in shallow ocean water, and comes to equilibrium saturation. That makes carbonic acid, and so the ocean becomes more acidic. Secondly, a greater concentration of CO 2 in the atmosphere increases the absorption of incoming solar energy and raises the temperature of upper levels of atmosphere, to produce potential for global warming, and consequent sea level rise. It is not just the rate of fossil CO 2 emission that needs to be reduced. Recent work on climate modelling by research groups shows that the total mass of CO 2 is a controlling factor. By 2030 if humans worldwide continue to emit fossil CO 2 at the present rate, the limit will be reached at which the probability of a 2ºC world temperature rise becomes greater than a 1 in 4 chance of excess climate change. In most industrialised countries about one third of fossil CO 2 emissions are from electricity generating power plant. In Scotland, this is about 35- 40% from the coal-fired power plants at Cockenzie, Longannet (the third largest coal plant in Europe), and gas burning at Peterhead. These sources offer an opportunity to capture about 16 million tons per year of CO 2 before it goes up the stack and is dumped into the atmosphere. The process of Carbon Capture and Storage is being developed for this purpose. This can capture the 14% content of CO 2 from flue gas by using an amine solvent, which is regenerated by heating to drive off the pure CO 2 . Compression to more than 70 atmospheres changes the pure CO 2 to a liquid state, enabling it to be transported by pipe (just as natural methane gas is moved across Scotland at present). The destination can be hundreds of kilometers distant, to inject this CO 2 into microscopic pores of sandstone deep beneath the North Sea. Why not just build more renewable power? If only life was that simple. Scotland needs at least two sources of electricity, because the wind doesn’t blow all the time, and the tides don’t flow continually. A backup is needed, from which more, or less, electricity can be made as required. Nuclear power can not rapidly adjust its output, and is not planned to be rebuilt. Even if renewables can produce most of Scottish electricity on good days, the top-up, and the filling-in will need to be undertaken by coal and gas power plants with CCS. The injected CO 2 is buoyant, with a density similar to crude oil, consequently an impermeable top seal is needed, so that upward leakage can be prevented, and the CO 2 retained securely, for at least 10,000 years into the future. These combinations of geological conditions occur in all oil and gas fields. Our research at Edinburgh University has shown that natural CO 2 has been successfully retained for up to 70 million years in such settings. Additional CO 2 storage may also be developed in sandstone rock formations filled with salt water, which have no other known use. How much storage capacity is there? A report by the Scottish Centre for Carbon Storage, a collaboration between the University of Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt University and the British Geological Survey called Opportunities for CO 2 storage around Scotland was launched by First Minister Alex Salmond at Edinburgh Castle on 1st May. An important discovery is that the hydrocarbon fields offshore of Scotland could host 1,290 million tons of CO 2 , and store a massive 4,600 to 46,000 tons of CO 2 in salt water formations. That could accommodate CO 2 from Scottish power plants for hundreds of years, or alternatively all the CO 2 from power plants in north-west Europe for about 100 years. Suprisingly, the conventional opinion that CO 2 could enable enhanced oil recovery of an additional 10-15% of oil from existing fields appears to be an expensive option, and needs both a high price for oil and an abundant reliable supply of CO 2 . So that will not happen until CCS becomes established on the mainland. The report also investigated pipeline routes which could gather emissions from the power stations, and Grangemouth refinery, to transport this CO 2 offshore to a selection of possible storage sites. These options are all feasible in cost and in timescale, prompting the First Minister to state that this ‘could be the birth of a whole new offshore industry’. So, when is any of this likely to happen? That needs a big budget, about £1 bn, to fit CO 2 capture equipment onto Longannet. Scottish Power are one of three finalists in the competition to win UK Government grants to make this happen, for the first time anywhere in the world on a commercial sized power plant. A small step was taken in that direction on 29 May, when the first carbon capture unit to operate CO2 on a working power plant in the UK was switched on for a 6 month trial. This will capture 2 from just 1 Megawatt of the 2,400 MW generated by Longannet, but will enable testing of specially designed amine solvents, to evaluate their working conditions. If these tests are successful, and the Government support is won, then Longannet could start its long road to ‘cleaner coal’ at the end of 2014. “In most industrialised countries about one third of fossil CO 2 emissions are from electricity generating power plant. In Scotland, this is about 35-40%” Professor Stuart Haszeldine School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh More information can be gained at www.geos.ed.ac.uk/sccs/
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Summer - Royal Scottish Geographical Society

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