Clean-Energy Transition is a central concept to energy and climate policies, and in this context the need for geothermal resources utilization is accelerating. Geothermal energy can be extracted from different, often complex, geological settings (e.g., fractured crystalline rock, magmatic systems, or sedimentary basins). Current advancements also target unconventional systems (e.g., enhanced geothermal systems, super-hot, pressurized and co-produced, super-critical systems) besides conventional hydrothermal systems. Optimizing investments leads also to the development of associated resources such as lithium, rare earth elements and hydrogen.
Such a variety of conditions requires a joint effort for understanding and modelling geological systems that are specific to each resource. The sustainable use of geothermal resources requires an advanced understanding of the properties of the entire system at every stage of geothermal field development. This includes, but it is not limited to geophysical properties, thermo-/petro-physical conditions, fluid composition, structural and hydrological features, and engineering considerations. The main challenges faced are, among others, exploration of blind systems, reservoir stimulation, environmental concerns, induced seismicity, multiphase fluid and scaling processes, monitoring.
The integration of analogue field studies with real-life production data, from industrial as well as research sites, and with numerical models, is a hot topic worldwide. We aim to gather field, laboratory and numerical experts who focus their research on geothermal sites, to stimulate discussion in this multidisciplinary applied research field. We encourage contributions from experts from a broad range of disciplines such as (hydro)geologists, geochemists, (geo)physicists, surface and subsurface engineers. The aim of this session is to gather inputs focusing on the interplay between different approaches. We welcome contributions from different research areas ranging from field data collection and analysis to laboratory experiments (e.g., geophysical surveys, structural characterization, geomechanical, geochemical experiments), and from data management and organization to numerical modeling.