The Book “History of Geothermal Energy in the World, from its Origins to the 20th Century” by Raffaele Cataldi and Mario César Suárez Arriaga has been published. You can order here: http://www.tepsnc.it/it/history-of-geothermal-energy-in-the-world-from-its-origins-to-the-20th-century/

After vetting bids from various countries to be the next Global WING Team, previous Global Chair Andy Blair said “I am excited to hand over the chair of the organization for the next 3 years to an energetic and talented group of women and men in the United States.”  

The new US-based WING Global team is busy preparing the new roadmap, setting objectives for the organization during their 3-year tenure, which will conclude at the World Geothermal Congress in China (planned for 2023).  While continuing to focus on connecting its members and increasing WING’s membership and visibility, the updated roadmap includes initiatives to mobilize more members to actively participate in WING opportunities, ensuring that WING is a sustainable force into the future. “It has been inspiring to plan the next era of WING,” says Ann Robertson-Tait, the new WING Global Chair.  “We have been working closely with the New Zealand team to define the future path of the organization.  WING has come a long way in the short time since its formation, and we have developed exciting plans for its future!”  

Read full press release here: https://wing.wildapricot.org/news/8977031

We would like to share this fantastic news from our member AGEOCOL with the entire geothermal community:

Under the slogan “Earth Sciences for Society”, the International Geoscience Programme (IGCP) of UNESCO announced last days the approval of the second version of the IGCP-636 project: Geothermal Resources for Energy Transition.

IGCP-636 is an international project of cooperation and scientific, technological and social innovation in the field of geothermal energy. The first version of the project worked under the title: “Unifying international research forces to unlock and strengthen geothermal exploitation of the Americas and Europe”.

From the present year 2020 and until the year 2024, the UNESCO IGCP-636 project will be led by Colombia through Dr. Daniela Blessent of the University of Medellin and current president of AGEOCOL.

The project team is joined by 21 organizations from 15 different countries. For Colombia, the Colombian Geological Survey (SGC), the Colombian Geothermal Association (AGEOCOL), the University of Medellin (UDEM), and the Colombian Section of WING (Women in Geothermal) will participate.

The main objective of the IGCP-636 project is to promote the use of geothermal resources as a sustainable energy product through

1) increasing the knowledge and understanding of deep geothermal systems
2) conduct outreach activities with focus groups and communities; and
3) promote the installation of geothermal heat pumps.

From AGEOCOL we happily share this great achievement, which we are sure will bring progress and learning to continue promoting the use of energy on our planet.

Thank you and happy day!

AGEOCOL Communications.

On 18-19 February 2020, the final conference of the European-Mexican cooperation GEMex Project took place at the GFZ. The coordinators of the project, Aída López-Hernández (Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, UMSNH) and David Bruhn (Helmholtz-Centre Potsdam, GFZ) welcomed 125 guests from 15 different countries. They were greeted not only by the administrative director of GFZ, Dr. Stefan Schwartze, but also by the Mexican Ambassador to Germany Rogelio Granguillhome Morfín.

During the two days of the conference, almost all project partners presented their results from 3.5 years of research on Enhanced Geothermal Systems and Superhot Geothermal Systems. Since the conference was open to the public, the 72 contributions were presented to interested stakeholders and the wider geothermal community as well as project partners from 30 different research institutions and geothermal associations.

The conference demonstrated the effort the consortium dedicates to the integration of results from the different disciplines of geology, geochemistry, geophysics and various modelling approaches in order to reach the two ultimate project goals. First, to better understand the superhot geothermal system in Los Humeros in order to propose a concept for the utilisation of this geothermal resource additional to the conventional resources. Second, to design a stimulation test in Acoculco in order to develop a concept for a first Engineered Geothermal System in Mexico.

The conference proceedings are online and the full conference contributions can be downloaded from the GEMex website.

Find more information about the project here: http://www.gemex-h2020.eu/index.php?lang=en

Why and when did the Vikings come to Iceland – the land of fumaroles, geysers, thermal waters, and volcanic eruptions? And what happened next? Read an exciting story published by the Geothermal Resources Council here: 

https://geothermal.org/PDFs/Articles/20JanFeb.pdf

The GEOS department, B2R team of the Institut Polytechnique UniLaSalle in France invites applications for the position of

1 Post-Doctoral researcher (m/w/d)

starting from 1st April 2020. The position is funded within a larger EU-Horizon 2020 project for a period of 12 months.

Your duties

You will work on the “Structural characterisation of Granitic reservoir outcrop analogues using digital data capture and analysis” to contribute to the Variscan geothermal reservoir modelling in granitic and metamorphic rocks, which is part of the H2020 project “Multidisciplinary and multi-context demonstration of EGS exploration and Exploitation Techniques and potentials (MEET)”. Study area is located within the United States (Death Valley, California) territories.

Based on literature, existing maps and, where available, on own previous fieldwork, you will:

  • apply quantitative high-resolution, ground and UAV-assisted photogrammetry during field surveys,
  • proceed with the field data processing in terms of tectonic evolution, mineralogical and rock microfabric analyses, 3D-fracture network and structural modelling,
  • contribute to investigations regarding petrophysical rock properties and reservoir rock-fluid interaction in close cooperation with PhDs and Postdocs at other Universities and Institutions within the MEET-project.

It is expected that you will closely cooperate in lab work with an intensive exchange with the MEET partner Universities.

Your results will have a strong impact on the development of geothermal energy exploration in Europe!

Your profile

  • You completed a PhD, general Geosciences knowledge will be a plus
  • You are highly motivated and experienced in field work and digital field surveying
  • You are experienced in spatial data analysis (e.g. GIS) and structural 3D-modeling (e.g. Agisoft Photoscan, Metashape, Cloud Compare, Move).
  • You are fluent in spoken and written English
  • You are highly motivated to publish your results, present them at international project meetings and conferences as well as to complete a PhD-thesis.
  • You bring excellent communication skills and enjoy working in interdisciplinary and international teams.

Please send your application, including a specific motivation letter, CV and relevant certificates, all in one single pdf file, by e-mail to Ghislain Trullenque, email: ghislain.trullenque@unilasalle.fr

The application deadline is: 30.03.2020

Please, do not hesitate to contact Dr. Ghislain Trullenque at UniLaSalle (phone: +33 3 44069327, e-mail: ghislain.trullenque@unilasalle.fr) if you have any further questions.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Geothermal Technologies Office (GTO), in conjunction with Idaho National Laboratory (INL), is hosting the 2020 Geothermal Design Challenge™: GIS Mapping Student Competition. The design challenge focuses on a non-technical barrier to geothermal development to foster understanding and share the benefits of geothermal energy technologies. Student teams of two or three will use geographic information system (GIS) mapping to create a compelling infographic/poster or interactive map to discover potential opportunities from this renewable energy source.

High school and university teams from across the United States are invited to create a compelling infographic/poster or interactive map while considering the following questions:

  • Geothermal energy is difficult to understand because it is located underground. How can geospatial mapping increase our understanding of this important renewable energy resource? 
  • How can GIS improve how we visualize and communicate about geothermal energy?

More detailed information about the Challenge can be found at geothermalchallenge.com.

Project workshop of geo2spain, GSS-VET, Geozert and GeoTrainet at German Geothermal Congress

The availability of qualified personal is a bottleneck for the expansion of shallow geothermal energy in many countries. Specific knowledge for heting installers as well as for drilling staff or planners and designers. The workshop presents the training course approaches of the projects geo2spain, GSS-VET, Geozert and GeoTrainet. In a second part the participants are invited to an open discussion.

In “Vocational Education and Training in Europe: The GSS-VET Project” our Technical Director Gregor Rumberg will report about the latest project results, the implementation of innovative teaching methods, experiences from the international collaboration and a possible utilization on the German market.

Date: 19. November 2019, 14:00 – 17:40
Venue: Gaszählerwerkstatt Munich

Download Workshop Flyer (pdf, 0.2 MB)
Website “Der Geothermiekongress”

By Thomas Reinsch, German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, and the SURE Consortium

Radial Water Jet Drilling (RJD) is a common technology to stimulate oil and gas wells in sedimentary formations. Within the EC funded Horizon 2020 project SURE (Novel Productivity Enhancement Concept for a Sustainable Utilization of a Geothermal Resource) the radial jet drilling technology was investigated and tested as a method to increase performance of insufficiently performing geothermal wells.

The technology: Radial jet drilling uses the power of a focused jet of fluids, applied to a rock through a coil inserted in an existing well. This technology is likely to provide much better control of the enhanced flow paths around a geothermal well and does not involve the amount of fluid as conventional hydraulic fracturing, thereby reducing the risk of induced seismicity considerably. RJD shall be applied to access and connect high permeable zones within geothermal reservoirs to the main well with a higher degree of control compared to conventional stimulation technologies.

A European consortium of geoscientific and applied technical research institutions, specialized universities, a dedicated technology provider and a geothermal company investigated the technology over various spatial and temporal scales ranging from short term laboratory experiments to field scale applications.

The results show that RJD is an innovative stimulation technology with a high potential for geothermal applications, but there are some technical challenges that need to be addressed in future work.

Related publications and more information about the SURE project are available on the project website https://www.sure-h2020.eu/publications.
Contact: thomas.reinsch@gfz-potsdam.de
Detailed scientific results will be presented at the World Geothermal Congress 2020 in Reykjavik.


Set-up of RJD technology

Deflector shoe with milling assembly to perforate casings,
Deflector shoe with high pressure jetting nozzle.

Reproduced from Reinsch & Blöcher 2016.

SUREhas received funding from the European Unions Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No.654662.

GenerationS corporate accelerator and ENEL launch a call for projects in renewable energy, thermal generation and sustainable development.Best teams will get a chance to present the product to ENEL’s top management, launch a paid pilot with ENEL Group and scale up to international markets. Participation is free of any charges.

A prototype or finished products in the following spheres are welcome:  

  • Thermal Generation:  innovative technologies to provide security of equipment and personnel,  identification of behavior, solutions to increase the level of staff training, etc.
  • Sustainable Development: solutions for recycling and reclaiming waste products and water treatment systems, etc.
  • Renewable Energy (Wind Power): innovative robotic solutions, additive technologies, AI for Safety and energy storage systems, blockchain technology to guarantee that energy originates from a renewable source, etc.

See more information on the scope of selection and apply via their website: http://enel.generation-startup.ru/en/.