Dirk Scheer* (Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS) / Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, KIT), SimTech PRs Prof. Holger Class and Prof. Bernd Flemisch, both from the Department of Hydromechanics and Modelling of Hydrosystems at the Institute for Modelling Hydraulic and Environmental Systems of the University of Stuttgart and also principal investigators at SFB 1313 publish book on “Subsurface Environmental Modelling Between Science and Policy".
The book which was published in the book series "Advances in Geophysical and Environmental Mechanics and Mathematics" at the Springer Verlag provides a broad overview of essential features of subsurface environmental modelling at the science-policy interface, offering insights into the potential challenges in the field of subsurface flow and transport, as well as the corresponding computational modelling and its impact on the area of policy- and decision-making.
The book is divided into two parts: Part I presents models, methods and software at the science-policy interface. Building on this, Part II illustrates the specifications using detailed case studies of subsurface environmental modelling. It also includes a systematic research overview and discusses the anthropogenic use of the subsurface, with a particular focus on energy-related technologies, such as carbon sequestration, geothermal technologies, fluid and energy storage, nuclear waste disposal, and unconventional oil and gas recovery.
The beginnings of the book can be traced back to about a decade ago when the researchers first met within EXC 310, the Cluster of Excellence in Simulation Technology (SimTech), at the University of Stuttgart in late 2008. The SimTech Cluster, funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), provided an opportunity for scientists from different faculties to carry out interdisciplinary research in the field of computer simulations from their different perspectives of engineering, natural sciences and social science. Focusing on subsurface environmental issues, its modelling and its science-policy impact, the researchers carried out several research projects together with a particular focus on the exploration of potential and challenges for subsurface environmental modelling at the science-policy interface. Such interdisciplinary collaborations make it possible to discuss research topics beyond one's own field of research and to better understand the “other” disciplines as well as the “own” disciplines.
Prof. Holger Steeb (Board of Directors of SimTech and SFB 1313’s principal investigator) from the Institute of Applied mechanics of the University of Stuttgart will be the editor of the book series.
* Dirk Scheer worked in the research group of Prof. Ortwin Renn in the early days of EXC 310 in 2008, who held the chair of Sociology of Technology and Environment at the University of Stuttgart from 1994 to 2016.
"Subsurface Environmental Modelling Between Science and Policy"