Drs. Bjørn Kvamme and Richard Coffin, Strategic Carbon co-founder, will initiate a multi-year, two-month-per-year contract to teach classes at and consult with Southwest Petroleum University in Chengdu, China, on gas hydrate research and development. Education in the classroom by Drs. Kvamme and Coffin will focus on gas hydrate stability and distribution. Classroom lessons will provide a broad range of information on physics, chemistry, geology, and biology with a global perspective relative to China nearshore opportunities. This will work across laboratory and field topics and include applied and basic focuses. Teaching will be open to providing US, Norwegian, and Chinese students opportunities to attend classes with the participating Universities. Drs. Kvamme and Coffin also will train SWPU faculty to improve theoretical and laboratory understanding of gas hydrates. This goal is intended to contribute to China’s development in methane hydrate energy acquisition and accountability for environmental safety. Safety issues will focus on platform and coastal slope stability.
