GeoLaB – Das geowissenschaftliche Zukunftsprojekt für Deutschland

To limit global warming to 2 °C above pre-industrial levels, our society is confronted with the urgent need to make the transition to a globally sustainable energy system (1). Geothermal energy is available regardless of season or time and, unlike many other renewable energies, is therefore suitable for base-load sytems. Geothermal energy is regarded as renewable as heat flows back into the reservoir due to temperature conditions and transport processes. It uses the energy source from the earth’s interior, which is inexhaustible by human standards. Geothermal energy can play an important role in the decarbonization of the energy system in Germany. In Central Europe, the greatest geothermal potential lies in the crystalline basement with important hotspots in areas under tectonic tension. These include the Upper Rhine Graben as a rift zone with hydrothermal fluid flows and exceptional temperature anomalies in the deep underground (2). The technology “Enhanced Geothermal Systems” (EGS) was developed to exploit the geothermal potential in the crystalline (3). EGS use the deep fractured subsoil as a natural heat exchanger. With at least two boreholes, a thermal water cycle is created that brings geothermal energy to the surface and makes it usable (4). However, since relatively high flow rates (> 10 l/s) are required for economic operation, the natural permeability of the rock in the crystalline – in contrast to hydrothermal systems – must be increased by hydraulic or chemical stimulation measures (reservoir engineering) to increase the flow rates. A major challenge for EGS is to control and minimize the induced seismicity generated in this process, both in the reservoir engineering and operation phase and with a view to increasing public acceptance. A profound understanding of the multi-physical processes in the reservoir, such as the complex interactions of the fluid with the reservoir at high flow rates, is indispensable for this. New scientifically based strategies and technologies are urgently needed to exploit the geothermal potential economically and at the same time in an environmentally compatible way.