Sean McCoy
Positions
Assistant Professor
Schulich School of Engineering, Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering
Contact information
Background
Educational Background
B.A.Sc. Environmental Engineering (Chemical Specialization), University of Waterloo, 2003
Ph.D. Engineering & Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University, 2008
Biography
Sean McCoy joined the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering at the University of Calgary as an assistant professor in December 2018.
Prior to joining the University of Calgary, Sean was an analyst at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), a US Department of Energy laboratory, and the International Energy Agency (IEA). At LLNL, he collaborated with research scientists to evaluate the economic feasibility and environmental benefits of early-stage concepts and the State of California to develop rules for CCS under the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS). While at the IEA, Sean collaborated both with IEA member and non-member governments to shape policies that advanced CCS technology. Sean was the author or a contributing author to three editions of IEA Energy Technology Perspectives (ETP), three editions of the IEA CCS Legal and Regulatory Review, the 2015 IEA Review of Canada's Energy Policy, and multiple IEA Insights Papers.
Sean maintains an adjunct faculty appointment in the Department of Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University. He is a member of the IEAGHG CCS Cost Network steering committee and of the Technical Program Committee for the 17th Greenhouse Gas Control Technologies (GHGT-16) Conference. He is a member of the CSA Standards’ Technical Committee that has developed a bi-national standard for geological storage and a contributor to ISO TC 265, which is developing international standards for CCS.
Sean received his PhD in Engineering and Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon in May 2008. His PhD dissertation was on “The Economics of CO2 Transport by Pipeline and Storage in Saline Aquifers and Oil Reservoirs.” Prior to this, Sean received a bachelor's degree from the University of Waterloo in Environmental Engineering (Chemical Specialization).
Research
Areas of Research
Sean’s primary research interests are developing methods to support rapid and effective screening of related early-stage technologies, improving approaches used in scenario-based energy systems modeling, and incorporating the theory of technology innovation into into energy and environmental policymaking. His current work includes lifecycle assessment of carbon capture and storage (CCS) with biofuels, exploration of policy mechanisms to incentivise negative emissions technologies (NETs), and techno-economic assessment of direct air capture and carbon dioxide (CO2) conversion technologies.
Participation in university strategic initiatives
Courses
| Course number | Course title | Semester |
|---|---|---|
| ENEE 503 | Life Cycle Assessment | Winter 2021 |
| ENCH 423 | Chemical Engineering Process Development | Winter 2021 |
| ENPE 423 | Oil and Gas Engineering Process Development | Winter 2021 |
| ENER 400 | Engineering Design and Economics | Winter 2021 |
| ENGG 201 | Behaviour of Liquids, Gases and Solids | Winter 2020 |
Publications
In the News
- U.S. unveils plans for large facilities to capture carbon directly from air. ScienceInsider. (2023)
- This $1.5 billion startup promised to deliver clean fuels as cheap as gas. Experts are deeply skeptical.. MIT Technology Review. (2022)
- Oil patch sees carbon capture tax credit as the future. Opponents say it’s an unnecessary lifeline. The Globe and Mail. (2021)
- Air-scrubbing machines gain momentum, but long way to go. Associated Press. (2021)
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