The importance of geodynamic settings and exploring for geothermal energy

Scaling up geothermal from a niche industry to a viable, global industry is important for all our collective decarbonization efforts. Here we explore the distribution of geothermal projects globally to understand where projects have been positioned to date. As a result of this global analysis, we recommend that future geothermal exploration and development be conducted using a Linnean-style classification system for geothermal entities. Hierarchical thinking and the pre-discovery exploration triangle will provide the technique for gaining the ‘big picture’ context about the location of the optimal geothermal plays and prospects.  It is further argued that the engineering approach used to complete a geothermal project significantly impacts the economics of the project, and that engineering should not be confused with play type, which at the highest level is either hydrothermal or petrothermal.

In this study we explore the distribution of Natural hydrothermal systems (NHS), Open loop Geothermal Systems (generically known EGS), and Closed Loop geothermal  systems (generically known CLG or AGS). Using the geodynamic model of Hasterock et al., (2022) our findings include an observation that there is little or no coherence to geothermal exploration to date. CLG/Closed Loop: Volcanic Arc systems (44%) EGS/Open Loop: Orogenic Belt systems (45%). Natural Hydrothermal: Volcanics Arc systems (51%). Our analysis is the first coherent global study of the geodynamic domain of geothermal projects. We observe that a better understanding of the internal variation within geodynamic domains and refined geodynamic models (paleo and present day) are necessary to improve the success of geothermal exploration. Furthermore, we find that identifying present day stress-state is important when planning wells and executing geothermal projects, and that higher resolution lithospheric models are needed to help understand the petrothermal and hydrothermal systems. Finally, further R&D is needed to help unlock geothermal exploration and drilling across the most prolific geodynamic settings.