Project description
Hot new energy concepts that also help keep the planet cooler
Earth may be a rocky planet and not a ball of extremely hot gas, but its interior packs a lot of heat. That heat is called geothermal energy. When it comes up to the surface carried by water or steam, it can be harnessed and used for heating or cooling or to generate clean electricity. Doing so in a large geothermal power plant requires creating a series of wells deep into the earth along with all the infrastructure to extract and process the heat. The EU-funded EASYGO project is developing system components, monitoring concepts and operational paradigms to enhance the safety and efficiency of geothermal systems. By connecting academia and industry with real-scale research infrastructure, the project is preparing young researchers with both experimental and practical knowledge to lead us into a brighter future more reliant on cleaner energy from the earth.
Objective
How to operate a geothermal system in the most efficient and safe manner? This is the most important and urgent question after a geothermal resource has been identified. EASYGO will answer that question from different perspectives and give high-level training for geothermal operations. The EASYGO programme connects academia, industry and real-scale research facilities to train tomorrow’s leading geothermal-energy experts. These future experts will improve the design and layout of geothermal systems and handle daily challenges during operations. Geothermal energy will play a key role in the energy transition as part of mitigating climate change. Policy makers demand solutions for a sustainable future energy supply. Tackling the challenges of sustainable geothermal operations requires an interdisciplinary and intersectoral approach. Integrating geoscientific and engineering drives technology innovation that will be tested at operational sites. EASYGO combines various research projects from these fields under in situ conditions, using large-scale infrastructure available to all researchers. To achieve the main objective, we will work on the whole chain of geothermal operations, from production to power-plant engineering to injection. We will develop novel monitoring concepts, perform real-time simulations, develop system components, assess novel concepts for operations and test operational parameters at the field scale. Our ESRs will work on a specifically identified project but will learn aspects of the entire geothermal operation chain in an outstanding training programme. The mobility plan of EASYGO envisages each ESR will have at least one academic secondment and one industrial secondment. The outstanding training programme is complementary to the excellent research plan. ESRs will meet every six months for an intersectoral training week on related topics and soft skills.
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Coordinator
8092 Zuerich
Switzerland