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Matt Bailey

@mtbailey.bsky.social
197 followers 277 following 57 posts

Geosciences Lecturer @ Univ. Plymouth. Environmental geochemistry; nuclear; heat pumps.

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Matt Bailey @mtbailey.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Reckon that fleece will be shedding a few too. Cotton overalls and plastic free sampling kit are essential, as are careful lab protocols. I did hear contamination seen in blanks being traced back to a poly logo on the technicians cotton lab coat!
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Matt Bailey @mtbailey.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Fully funded PhD @plymuni.bsky.social with the UK National Nuclear Lab - investigating mudstone redox chemistry. Please do reshare! www.plymouth.ac.uk/study/resear...
plymouth.ac.uk
Mineralogical controls on redox chemistry within the subsurface
Applications are invited for a three-year PhD studentship: Project SHIELD: Systematic assessment of Hepatic micro- and nanoplastIc accumulatIon and...
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Matt Bailey @mtbailey.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Coastal aquifer energy - our preprint exploring how derogated coastal urban aquifers could offer a substantial thermal resource for city-wide heating and cooling. doi.org/10.31223/X5W...
doi.org
Coastal Aquifer Energy in Plymouth, UK
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Geoscientist magazine @geoscientistmag.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Demand for applied geoscientists is growing to support carbon capture, geothermal energy, critical minerals and resilient infrastructure. But with specialist MSc courses closing and less postgraduates entering the industry, the talent pipeline is under pressure. geoscientist.online/sections/une...
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Matt Bailey @mtbailey.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Devonian Plymouth Limestone is both an important kast aquifer beneath the city and also abundantly used locally as a building stone, including in tonight’s accommodation
Rubble limestone wall surrounding timber window frame with corner of a model boat
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Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
"The system has 120kms (75-miles) of underground pipes distributing chilled water to museums, offices, hospitals, schools...Instead of thousands of individual air-conditioning units, cooling is produced centrally and shared across the city like a utility." www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
‘Kind of miracle solution’: How Paris is harnessing the Seine to replace air-con
City plans to triple system of underground pipes that distribute chilled river water, reducing need for individual cooling units
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Matt Bailey @mtbailey.bsky.social · 14/06/2026
The only frustration I have as an EV owner is that in my experience at least 30% of charging points don’t work.
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Matt Bailey @mtbailey.bsky.social · 14/06/2026
And the BBC peddling worries over range anxiety and number of charging points. If range is an issue in anything other than a city runabout, you have a stronger bladder than me!
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Matt Bailey @mtbailey.bsky.social · 14/06/2026
Ugh, why is our government so consistently weak against lobbying www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
UK electric car sales target set to be weakened
The new target hasn't yet been decided, with different numbers under consideration, the BBC understands.
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Matt Bailey @mtbailey.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Impressed by the commitment of our @plymuni.bsky.social MSc students today out on Dartmoor, excellent geophysics session thanks to Jacob’s and Fugro
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Matt Bailey @mtbailey.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
A reminder why we don’t send out nuclear waste into space www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/...
bbc.co.uk
Moment Blue Origin rocket explodes during test in Florida
A Blue Origin New Glenn rocket exploded on a launch pad at Cape Canaveral in Florida on Thursday night.
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Matt Bailey @mtbailey.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
There is only one credible pathway to decarbonise heating and cooling: heat pumps.
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Matt Bailey @mtbailey.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
So temporary subsidies are needed to overcome the inertia in the market and bring down cost for those who are not ‘middle class’
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Matt Bailey @mtbailey.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
Heat pumps are not in the slightest bit exotic technology, it’s just many gas boiler installers haven’t had enough heat pump customers for it to become muscle memory…
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Matt Bailey @mtbailey.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
🚨Post-doc in geochemistry @plymuni.bsky.social, looking at minerals and microbes in groundwater heat pump systems, if that's your thing - take a look: hrservices.plymouth.ac.uk/tlive_webrec...
hrservices.plymouth.ac.uk
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Matt Bailey @mtbailey.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
🚨Post-doc in geochemistry @plymuni.bsky.social, looking at minerals and microbes in groundwater heat pump systems, if that's your thing - take a look: hrservices.plymouth.ac.uk/tlive_webrec...
hrservices.plymouth.ac.uk
Powered by MHR
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Peter Gleick @petergleick.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
We already see this. I'm party of an international team of water scientists giving lectures on freshwater to Chinese university students. The first class has 1,500 students and they expect 10,000 to take the course. 10,000! Just on #water issues. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
China could be the world’s biggest public funder of science within two years
Forecast by science-policy researchers raises questions about where the epicentre of global research will shift to in the coming decade.
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Matt Bailey @mtbailey.bsky.social · 21/02/2026
I don’t disagree with your claim about financial cost. I do however think it is a price worth paying to sustain a nuclear trained workforce, capable of delivering complex projects such as this. The significant low carbon base-load is a nice bonus, as an addition to renewables
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Matt Bailey @mtbailey.bsky.social · 21/02/2026
HPC is the first new nuclear in the UK in a generation, lessons learned during construction should mean the same design at Sizewell will be cheaper…
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Matt Bailey @mtbailey.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
Strong flag game over at the Sustainable Earth Institute today @plymouthuni
Many miniature national flags on a desk with 3-D letters spelling SEI on windowsill behind
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Matt Bailey @mtbailey.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
PhD studentship - microbes and aquifer energy systems, located at the fantastic @bgs.ac.uk aries-dtp.ac.uk/studentships...
aries-dtp.ac.uk
Tools for assessing microbial risks of groundwater heating, CASE project with The Environment Agency | Aries
Dr Simon Gregory, Decarbonisation and Resource Management, British Geological Survey Dr Matt Bailey-Ross, School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Science, University of Plymouth Dr Mike Spence…
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EAG @eageo.bsky.social · 16/10/2025
Deadline extended to 20 Jan
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Matt Bailey @mtbailey.bsky.social · 20/08/2025
A shame to see confidence eroding, perhaps no surprise given shortage of willing communities and options for siting
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Matt Bailey @mtbailey.bsky.social · 12/07/2025
I think the biggest challenge we have in the UK is our cultural landscape, it is very difficult to have a grown up conversation without sensationalist intervention
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Matt Bailey @mtbailey.bsky.social · 12/07/2025
Public consent can mean a range of things, I’m sure the Swiss ‘geology first’ implementer would argue public consent was very much part of their siting process
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David Roberts @volts.wtf · 18/05/2025
Oooof. Those direct air capture machines built by Climeworks in Iceland, to pull carbon dioxide out of the air? Turns out ... they have generated more CO2 than they have captured.
heimildin.is
Climeworks’ capture fails to cover its own emissions
The carbon capture company Climeworks only captures a fraction of the CO2 it promises its machines can capture. The company is failing to carbon offset the emissions resulting from its operations – wh...
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Matt Bailey @mtbailey.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
Pretty sure it’s in all biosolids applied to land. Not even tested for here in UK… yet applied liberally to arable land near us. This also happens to be chalk downland, the regions main public water supply aquifer lies beneath
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Matt Bailey @mtbailey.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
Absolutely, great to see such a diverse range of talks and insights into the many new projects being developed
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Matt Bailey @mtbailey.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
@clairebaileyross.bsky.social
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Matt Bailey @mtbailey.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
I’ve been wanting to investigate this, but acquiring samples legitimately is the main hurdle. I hear that the UK water industry (UKWIR) is starting to confront this issue, but we still know far to little
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Matt Bailey @mtbailey.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
Setback for UK nuclear waste Geological Disposal Programme as East Lindsey indicate they will withdraw from the siting process. www.e-lindsey.gov.uk/article/2798...
e-lindsey.gov.uk
A statement from Cllr Craig Leyland, Leader of East Lindsey District Council - East Lindsey District Council
A statement in relation to Nuclear Waste Services Ground Disposal Facility
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Dr. Aaron Thierry @thierryaaron.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
As @doctorvive.bsky.social points out in her book, the CCS industry is a remarkable shape shifter. It is simultaneously both: An incipient invention in need of major state support & subsidies; & A tried & tested technology that can be relied on to deliver net-zero
bbc.co.uk
Billions risked on 'unproven' green tech, MPs warn
The Public Accounts Committee warns the government of gambling public money on carbon capture.
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Matt Bailey @mtbailey.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
So while its correct that some wastes from our existing stockpiles can be processed for use in new reactors, this does not solve our complex and substantial legacy waste problem. Ultimately we need to press ahead with our geological disposal facility
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Matt Bailey @mtbailey.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
Further to this, SMRs require a higher enriched fuel than conventional reactors - due to the need to sustain fission in smaller cores - which leads to hotter wastes. These wastes then need longer to cool at surface before disposal, with associated societal risks
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Matt Bailey @mtbailey.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
Reprocessing spent nuclear fuel for reuse generates additional volumes waste, through direct contamination and activation. We have a lot of experience of this in the UK with Magnox and THORP at Sellafield
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Matt Bailey @mtbailey.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
Whilst SMRs and nuclear new build generally seems a good idea to me, it is not correct to suggest that SMRs solve our nuclear waste problem…
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Kate Littler @palaeoclimate.bsky.social · 13/12/2024
🚨Job alert 🚨 We're looking for a Lecturer in Rock Engineering and Geotechnics @uniofexeternews.bsky.social on our beautiful Penryn Campus, Cornwall. www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DKK672/l... Be part of our vibrant research and teaching community at the Camborne School of Mines. Please share :) 🧪⚒️🌏
jobs.ac.uk
Lecturer in Rock Engineering & Geotechnics (Education and Research) at University of Exeter
Apply for the Lecturer in Rock Engineering & Geotechnics (Education and Research) role on jobs.ac.uk, the top job board for academic positions in higher education. View details and apply now.
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Matt Bailey @mtbailey.bsky.social · 13/12/2024
For the avoidance of any doubt, deadlines on a Monday are not inclusive. Deadlines on the first Monday back after a school holiday... really?
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Matt Bailey @mtbailey.bsky.social · 26/11/2024
Microplastics seem to get everywhere… out with @britgeosurvey.bsky.social on Dartmoor today, seeing whether they’re in groundwater and upland catchments
Two scientists in blue cotton overalls crouching by pipework and scientific instruments, two locals, one on a quad bike in backgroundPipes and valves like you’d find under your sink on the ground, small grey box with wire Granite dam with water cascading. Branches with no leaves in foreground
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Matt Bailey @mtbailey.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
The UK is out on a limb here!
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Gavin Foster @thefosterlab.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
We have 9 PhD projects in the general area of Geochemistry on offer this year via our DTP in a range of subjects (see flyer) from exploring rainfall in a past warmer world to studying the eruptive behaviour of a young stratovolcano. Please share with interested parties 🧪⚒️🌊🪸🐙
A poster listing the PhD opportunities available in the Geochemistry Group of the School of Ocean and Earth Science, University of Southampton.  Geochemistry at Southampton comprises over 30 researchers and postgraduate students who apply state-of-the-art geochemical analysis and modelling to scientific questions of
major societal, economic and environmental importance. With over £5M investment in new facilities over the past 5 years, the Geochemistry Group is one of the best equipped centres
of its type in the world, allowing us to offer PhD projects that span a wide range of low and high temperature geochemistry research.  Go to this link to find out more: https://noc.ac.uk/education/gsnocs/how-apply.  There are also four images: a banner with a volcano, two photos of the laboratory, a diver sampling coral and a geologists in the field
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British Geological Survey @bgs.ac.uk · 05/11/2024
🚨 PhD Opportunities 🚨 BGS and the National Oceanographic Centre have several exciting PhD opportunities available including: 'Disentangling groundwater from fluvial flood risk across Northern Ireland’s permeable flood plains' For more information, please visit: www.bgs.ac.uk/geological-r...
PhD opportunties with the British Geological Survey and National Oceanographic Centre
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Matt Bailey @mtbailey.bsky.social · 17/10/2024
Super few days out and about in Somerset this week measuring some rocks!
A group of twelve people on a beach with high visibility jackets, red cliffs behindTwo people with hard hats holding a measuring tape against a rock face, others watching on
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Matt Bailey @mtbailey.bsky.social · 13/10/2024
An open door for biomethane, however ‘green’ it is claimed to be, is an open door for natural gas
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Matt Bailey @mtbailey.bsky.social · 09/10/2024
Perfect day for some geology! Not so perfect if you wanted a swim…
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Matt Bailey @mtbailey.bsky.social · 26/08/2024
Brilliant, let’s produce huge volumes of another synthetic material to release to the environment, I’m sure metal-organic framework nanoparticles will prove to be completely benign 🙄
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Matt Bailey @mtbailey.bsky.social · 20/08/2024
I normally say that you don’t need to if it’s (very) common knowledge… would be interested if others have a different opinion
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Matt Bailey @mtbailey.bsky.social · 15/08/2024
Exciting to do some actual science today at Plymouth’s Electron Microscopy Centre, exploring the source of sediment from a geothermal well in the city
Laboratory instrument with a black and white image on a screenIlluminated chamber with small cylinders insideCommercial building with PEMC banner
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Matt Bailey @mtbailey.bsky.social · 05/08/2024
Benefit #101 of academia: being able to use libraries of pretty much any other home institution. Nice to be back in Newcastle this week
Library card for Newcastle University held up against laptop with Plymouth University home pageOld college building against grey sky
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Matt Bailey @mtbailey.bsky.social · 12/07/2024
What is quite striking is the prediction that CO2 levels are still rising more than a century after peak oil production
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