Geir Vollsæter is a policy advisor in Alston & Bird’s Environmental and Land Use Group in Washington, D.C. Geir is one of the world’s top experts in energy and climate related issues, and offers unique non-legal carbon consulting capabilities, as well as the ability to function within a team of lawyers offering overall legal counseling and strategy on energy and carbon issues.
Before joining Alston & Bird, Geir served as the general manager of CO2 at Shell International, where he was responsible for the development of CO2 demonstration projects involving carbon capture and storage as well as development of CO2 standards for production assets. At Shell, Geir also held positions as a manager for regulatory affairs and as a commercial advisor.
Prior to Shell, Geir worked in the waste-to-energy industry with business development and regulatory affairs. Among his many successes was the development of the Halten Project, the world’s first large-scale combined cycle gas power carbon capture and storage project in Norway. Geir also had a significant role in the development of the Mongstad Refinery CCS Test Center in Norway, the Zerogen Project in Australia, the Zero Emission Technology Platform in Europe, the development of the floating offshore windmill concept SWAY, and several other gas- and coal-based CCS projects.
Geir Vollsæter is a policy advisor in Alston & Bird’s Environmental and Land Use Group in Washington, D.C. Geir is one of the world’s top experts in energy and climate related issues, and offers unique non-legal carbon consulting capabilities, as well as the ability to function within a team of lawyers offering overall legal counseling and strategy on energy and carbon issues.
Before joining Alston & Bird, Geir served as the general manager of CO2 at Shell International, where he was responsible for the development of CO2 demonstration projects involving carbon capture and storage as well as development of CO2 standards for production assets. At Shell, Geir also held positions as a manager for regulatory affairs and as a commercial advisor.
Prior to Shell, Geir worked in the waste-to-energy industry with business development and regulatory affairs. Among his many successes was the development of the Halten Project, the world’s first large-scale combined cycle gas power carbon capture and storage project in Norway. Geir also had a significant role in the development of the Mongstad Refinery CCS Test Center in Norway, the Zerogen Project in Australia, the Zero Emission Technology Platform in Europe, the development of the floating offshore windmill concept SWAY, and several other gas- and coal-based CCS projects.
Over the years, Geir has served in many government and industry commissions to develop strategies and white papers for research, development, deployment and commercialization of technologies within the energy sector. Geir has held several board positions, most recently as chairman of Polytec, and is currently a board member of the SWAY Corporation and Carbon Negative.
Geir works with Alston & Bird’s Climate Change and Carbon Management practice, which offers unique experience in the development and implementation of the full range of greenhouse gas risk management and monetization strategies. The group represents both existing energy companies as well as new enterprises in a number of carbon-related services, including project development, carbon finance and trading, legislative and regulatory advocacy, risk consultation and litigation.
Geir received a B.A. in 1997 in government and continued with advanced studies in international affairs until 1999 at California State University, Sacramento. He undertook research for a master’s thesis at Oxford Brookes University in 1998.