The Emotion Project: improvement of the geochemical knowledge on geothermal manifestations in Italy

Energy request from renewable sources is increasing due to high energy demand and the need of a more sustainable use of the resources. Among renewable sources, geothermal energy represents a powerful tool to reduce the energy dependence on fossils contributing to reducing the impact of climate change.

Despite its high potential, geothermal energy has historically had a limited role in Italy, confined to the well known Tuscany areas, although it could have a more widespread exploitation satisfying local energy demands through both direct and indirect uses.

The Emotion Project (GeochEMical characterization of geOThermal manifestations in Italy and development of the natIONal geothermal fluid web portal) is a three-year broad-scope project (2023-2025) funded by the Italian Ministry of University and Research in the framework of ten-year INGV PIANETA DINAMICO Research-Program (https://progetti.ingv.it/it/emotion).

The ambition of EMOTION project is to accelerate the geothermal exploration for low, medium and high temperature (enthalpy) resources by a detailed geochemical characterization of the manifestations of geothermal interest located in central-northern Italy and to develop a solid and public web portal of all Italian geothermal manifestations, including those already studied in the central-southern part of the country (Vigor Project).

Here we present first year results obtained by a detailed critical review of available geochemical information on thermal springs, mineral waters and gas emissions. These data represent the starting point to identify interesting and data-missing areas to be further investigated by new geochemical campaigns planned for 2024. Eleven Italian Regions were investigated (Tuscany, Umbria, Marches, Emilia Romagna, Liguria, Piedmont, Aosta Valley, Lombardy, Trentino Alto Adige, Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia) by a research team belonging to INGV, University of Florence, Perugia, Genoa and Calabria. The review data were collected from scientific papers, unpublished theses, regional datasets, reports and well logs (e.g., AGIP), other web portals and unpublished data.

More than 4000 fluid manifestation information, among which thermal and cold springs, wells, bubbling polls, dry vents and fumaroles were collected and organized in a database, as homogeneous as possible. The database includes geographical data, geochemical analysis of major, minor, trace ad isotopic species, physics-chemical parameters and information on water table level and flow rate.

To get hints on reservoir temperatures, chemical-physical processes ruling fluid circulation and to discriminate manifestations of geothermal interest from the others, a selection was made considering specific criteria, proposing also a first approach to standardizing geochemical data, potentially useful in the framework of opening and sharing scientific data.