Richard Esposito has more than 25 years of experience in the electric utility industry and currently serves as the program manager of geosciences and carbon management in the research and development organization at Southern Company.

In his current role, Esposito works with a wide range of energy-related issues including energy storage, geothermal power, deep well disposal of wastewater, enhanced oil recovery and carbon storage in geologic formations. In the carbon storage area, he works on a wide range of commercialization issues including project development, technology demonstration, risk analysis and permitting.

Esposito earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in geology from Auburn University. After graduation, he worked at the Alabama Department of Environmental Management as an environmental regulator with a wide range of issues including solid waste management, public water supply, underground injection control, environmental permitting, and hydrogeology.

Esposito began working at Southern Company in 1991 in the environmental engineering group working on environmental issues such as soil and groundwater assessment and remediation, foundations analysis, hydrogeology, permitting, and power plant siting and decommissioning.

After 15 years in the engineering organization, he received a Ph.D. in engineering from the University of Alabama at Birmingham with a focus on carbon dioxide environmental controls. He then transitioned to working in the Southern Company’s research and environmental affairs group.

Esposito has served on numerous committees and panels for the CSA Standards for the Development of Standards for Geologic Sequestration. He also served on the Department of Energy CO2 Storage and Advanced Research Merit Review Panel and currently participates in the development of ISO standards in the areas of geologic storage and carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery.

Esposito serves in an academic role as a full research professor and graduate student committee chair in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. In addition, he serves as an adjunct faculty member teaching energy and geology courses at Samford University. He currently serves as a committee member for graduate students in geology programs at Oklahoma State University, University of South Carolina, Auburn University, and Mississippi State University.

Esposito has published extensively, over the years, and has lectured both domestically and internationally as a subject matter expert on a wide range of energy-related issues.