The why: In a family of water scientists, Ryan Pollyea finds his footing in the earth

While working toward his master’s degree in geology from the University of Idaho, Ryan Pollyea learned that his advisor received a grant to study the possibility of storing captured carbon within the rock formations of southern Idaho.

The advisor convinced Pollyea to pursue a Ph.D. And now, thanks to that project and nearly two decades of continuous research, the associate professor in Virginia Tech’s Department of Geosciences, part of the College of Science, has become a rock star in the area of geologic carbon sequestration.

Pollyea and a team of undergraduate and graduate geology students are breaking ground every day, trying to unearth new ways to take large amounts of carbon dioxide generated mostly by industries, pumping it at least two miles beneath the earth’s surface, and storing it to reduce its harmful effects on the atmosphere.

“As a science question, it was always fascinating to me,” Pollyea said. “I know a lot of our science that we do, we learn stuff, but maybe it never gets commercialized. There’s a reason we do basic science, because you don’t know when those tools and that knowledge will be useful in the future.

“So I just kept doing it, enjoying it, and became, I think, relatively good at the modeling part of it. Then, over the last handful of years, we see that there is a commercial appetite for it.”

Those unfamiliar with carbon should know that carbon dioxide can be used in a variety of products — soda, beer, refrigerants, plastics, adhesives, fire extinguishers. But the world produces too much of it, which leads to a heating effect on the environment.

Watching the growth of industries globally — leading to an emission of more carbon dioxide annually — has scientists like Pollyea concerned about the ramifications on a worldwide population of more than 8 billion people. Those ramifications also have many industries seeking more eco-friendly processes.

“There’s the cost of doing something, but there’s also the cost of not doing something,” Pollyea said. “And how do we figure out which one is more?”

Carbon sequestration has been around for decades. Many oil and gas companies in Texas and Oklahoma pump carbon dioxide into deep, underground wells to increase oil recovery. The underground geology there lends itself to carbon storage, but what about other areas? And what is the impact if carbon dioxide escapes through fractures and other conduits on the earth’s surface? These are questions that Pollyea and his team of student researchers hope to answer.

“What we’re trying to do is say, ‘Let’s do the research and development on these more complicated rocks, more complicated geology. Let’s see if we can unlock new terrain for carbon storage,’” Pollyea said. “Our whole thing is we know it’s going to work in some very specific areas. Can we open the playbook to make it doable in other places?”

To find answers, Pollyea led the way for the creation of Virginia Tech’s Carbon CoLab, which leverages the expertise of university researchers in the Department of Geosciences, the Department of Mining and Minerals Engineering, the Department of Chemical Engineering, the Charles E. Via Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, the Department of Sustainable Biomaterials, and the Virginia Center for Coal and Energy Research to work in tandem with private industries through the university’s LINK: Center for Advancing Partnerships.

In short, this partnership with private industries provides a way to find solutions.

Pollyea and his team currently are working with Titan America’s Roanoke Cement Company, a cement plant outside of Roanoke. The group was selected for a $9 million U.S. Department of Energy grant supported by an additional $2.6 million from Roanoke Cement Company to determine if the geology at the plant’s site supports carbon storage.

“Dr. Pollyea’s research in geologic carbon sequestration is deeply relevant to Titan America’s sustainability goals,” said Chris Bayne, director of decarbonization and energy at Titan America. “His work offers promising pathways for permanent carbon storage, supporting our efforts to develop low-carbon cement solutions, while teaching students how to develop science-based decarbonization solutions for the real world.”

Uzezi Orivri, a Ph.D. student in the geosicenes program and someone who works with Pollyea on numerous projects, would agree. Orivri spent six years as a petroleum engineer, but now is one of many collaborating with Pollyea to keep harmful amounts of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere by putting it underground.

“What really sets Dr. Pollyea apart is his unwavering drive to translate the science of carbon storage into real-world solutions,” Orivri said. “He ensures that research doesn’t just stay in the lab. It leads to meaningful impact. And as an advisor, he consistently puts the spotlight on his students, creating opportunities for us to grow, contribute, and connect our work to real world challenges.”

Pollyea understands the challenges that he and his team face. They not only need to find the right geological areas for carbon storage, but also come up with affordable technologies that allow industries to store carbon. Currently, the price is steep — $250 million to $300 million for environmental reviews, permit processes, drill wells, and construction — and thus a deterrent for the private sector.

“I think the argument for tax credits and government incentives is the way to move this forward. If we can get to economies of scale, the cost of the technology comes down,” he said. “We’ve built up the Carbon CoLab to accelerate development of the technology deployment. That’s where I think we’re going to be useful with it. The research is going to continue moving to bring costs down and maybe even find new ways to capture carbon.”

Pollyea and his team will continue to dig for new technologies and processes while conducting research, which often reveals the unexpected. Such research does take time, but they now have momentum.

Arguably, more importantly, they have the motivation.

“I probably spent the first 10 years of my career wondering, ‘Is what I’m studying going to ever actually happen?’” he said. “And I think the last five years, I’m realizing, ‘Yeah, this can go.’”