The Topic Geoenergy will address multiple utilization scenarios – also beyond the supply of steerable base-load electricity from the subsurface – and provide essential contributions to meet the heating demand in Germany if the underground can be used to extract or seasonably store medium-temperature heat (<150°C).

The multidisciplinary approach encompassing fundamental and applied research in close collaboration with industry covers a wide range of scales and issues: from nano scale (e.g., development of smart nano particles as tracers),  to microscale (e.g., investigation of scalings including naturally occurring radioactive materials, porosity/permeability evolutions, multiphysics processes), and reservoir/system scale (e.g., seismicity mitigation, life-cycle assessment).

“All competences from pure physics to natural sciences such as geology are represented and show excellence in modeling and engineering analysis at several scales”. The outstanding rated research unit at KIT is encouraged to demonstrate geothermal high-temperature storage systems and heat production, e.g., at the KIT Campus North. Furthermore, the geothermal underground laboratory GeoLaB was designed as the first geothermal reservoir simulator for reservoir technology and borehole safety.