Decarbonizing Global Heat Supply: New Business Models for Direct Use Geothermal

This panel features:
Alexis McKittrick, Program Manager, Geothermal Technologies Office, Geothermal Technologies Office, Department of Energy
Neil Patrick Kavanagh, Chief Scientist, Woodside Energy
Zeyneb Magavi, Co-Executive Director, HEET
Simon Todd, Managing Director, Causeway Energies
Tim Lines, Chief Executive Officer, Geothermal Wells LLC
About the Speakers:
Neil is the Chief Scientist at Woodside Energy Ltd., a global energy company, proudly Australian with a spirit of innovation and determination. It is Australia’s leading natural gas producer that pioneered Australia’s liquified natural gas (LNG) industry. Neil promotes this pioneering spirit to solve future global energy challenges. An engineer with a 36-year international oil and gas career, Neil has worked in production, engineering, exploration and new technology roles in North Sea, Netherlands, Brunei, Oman and Australia. Neil has a passion for solving important problems with step change innovation by building self-motivated communities who want to make a difference. Neil is from Leeds, UK, and graduated from University Of Manchester with degrees (B.Eng, B.Sc (Hons)) in Engineering and Management in 1986. He is an Adjunct Professor with the Centre for Offshore Foundation Systems at University of Western Australia and a Director of the Society of Petroleum Engineers. Neil is married to Annie, has four children, and in his spare time runs a small organic farm.
To efficiently and equitably decarbonize buildings, Zeyneb designed the GeoMicroDistrict, a scalable utility-managed bidirectional ambient-temperature thermal energy network. With six installations funded - five by regulated gas utilities - she has convened an independent research consortium to maximize learning and allow data-informed optimization of the Gas-to-Geo transition. Zeyneb joined HEET as research lead for the Large Volume Leak study, which identified a method to rapidly cut leaking gas pipe emissions in half and aligned gas utilities and climate advocates to drive rapid enactment of this method as regulation. Zeyneb serves as guest faculty at the Harvard School of Public Health and guest lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management.
Before entering the sustainability world, Zeyneb led the development of several technological solutions to global health challenges in the developing world, including in South Africa, Senegal, Thailand, Brazil, and Botswana. She has been part of launching two start-ups and has worked at BBN Technologies and Harvard University. Zeyneb studied physics at Brown University and global health and sustainability at Harvard University. She is committed to creating and driving forward compassionate, multi-disciplinary and innovative solutions to the urgent challenge of climate change.
Dr Simon Todd is an energy industry executive with 30 years leading businesses around the world with bp and other smaller ventures and projects. Simon has BSc and PhD degrees from the University of Bristol in geological science. Simon is also NED of Senergy Innovations Ltd, a company developing a breakthrough solar thermal panel, and Adjunct Professor to the School of Earth Science, University College Dublin.
Tim has spent 40 years in the energy sector across the globe, primarily in oil and gas and geothermal, but also power generation and district heating. In 2022, he co-founded a Texas startup, Geothermal Wells LLC, to deploy O&G technology and data science to explore for and produce geothermal superheated water to decarbonize heavy industry and aviation fuel. He is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, collaborating with geothermal institutions and lobbyists to guide research, education and training.​​ ​He holds a BS Chemistry, MS Petroleum Engineering (Imperial College, London), MBA, Chartered Engineer, Fellow of the Geological Society and Fellow of the Energy Institute UK.