France

As Tour de France rolls into Pau, France, on 12 July, we celebrate our very own French cyclist and Realtimeseismic (RTS) Operations Manager @yannickbouet who has recently completed 710km of cycling across south western France with a magnetometer attached to his bike!

No easy feat, given there is no off-the-shelf kit to stably mount an unwieldy magnetometer onto a bike.  Not to mention then riding the final assembly safely across varied terrain, from paved roads to rocky single tracks, over many hours without either damaging expensive equipment (carbon bike + magnetometer), or creating excessive oscillations that could impact survey measurements or even make the bike unbalanced.

Realtimeseismic offered this novel method of conducting a magnetic survey by bike, rather than applying the traditional aeroplane survey approach, as part of our ongoing work to assist GTGI.

GTGI was commissioned by TBH2 Aquitaine to conduct magnetic surveys as part of an approved exploration program for natural hydrogen and helium in the Pyrenees Atlantiques department. TBH2 Aquitaine was granted an exclusive 5-year exploration permit called ‘Sauve Terre H²’, on 23 November 2023, to look for these natural occurring substances in this 225 km² area.

Claudio Strobbia, RTS CEO and Chief Research Scientist, discusses the unique survey approach.  “As much as I love flying, using a bike rather than an aeroplane as the platform for this magnetic survey, means we can truly limit the environmental impact of the project and yet still deliver high-quality survey results”. 

“Our business supports a growing portfolio of renewable energy projects. We take traditional exploration technologies and knowledge from the oil and gas sector, and apply them in creative, environmentally friendly ways in our renewable energy projects – it’s beneficial for our clients, rewarding for RTS talented people and offers positive community experiences for all involved.” said Claudio.

To our knowledge, no other bike magnetic survey has been previously conducted in Europe, with this Case Study from Northern Israel being geographically the closest similar initiative to date.

Yannick Bouet reflected on key challenges and uncertainties that had to be overcome, including:

• was it physically achievable to acquire more than 550km of profiles in the hilly environment of southern France within reasonable project timelines
• would anthropogenic influences, such as powerlines, pipelines, traffic, bike orientation or constructed areas, significantly impact the survey data
• could the pre-processing of data adequately correct for the impact of these subterranean and surface structures on the final survey data?

“In the end, we were all impressed by the quality of the final survey data, with the excellent preprocessing work removing anthropogenic influences altogether,” said Yannick.

“Being on the bike also made it much easier to meet and talk to local people in the area being surveyed – they were all so curious about the strange bike set-up and keen to learn about this unique project.  “It was a wonderful opportunity to talk to people, including local school children, about what geoscientists do, what a great career option it can be for curious minds, and how our earth’s subsurface can play a positive role in supporting our world’s energy transition.” Yannick noted.

We acknowledge and thank GEO2X for their collaboration with RTS to help design the survey and thoroughly test the bike set for best results.  Special thanks to Pier Vitorio Radogna of GEO2X for the processing of magnetic data, Amine Idriss for his excellent field-work assistance, and to Mrs Bouet for the loan of her carbon fibre hardtail mountain bike.

RTS is on the lookout now for geophysicists who love cycling! Keep an eye out on our LinkedIn page for more news about our people, projects and job opportunities!