| Title | Principles, Criteria & Indicators (PC&I) framework for sustainable subsurface development |
|---|---|
| Authors | Alexandros Daniilidis |
| Year | 2026 |
| Conference | World Geothermal Congress |
| Keywords | Sustainable subsurface development, Principles Criteria & Indicators framework, DIAMONDS project, Delphi survey, Resource interaction scenarios |
| Abstract | Given the current energy and climate transition, a rising amount of technologies look at the subsurface for solutions. To ensure the inclusion of the different values at play when making decisions regarding sustainable development of the subsurface, a Principles, Criteria & Indicators framework is developed in the DIAMONDS project (Compernolle et al., 2023). This framework consists of three hierarchical levels. The first level, the principles, encompasses the universal values that determine sustainability. For the DIAMONDS project, these were established via a two-round Delphi survey, consulting experts until consensus was reached. The second level consists of criteria which are measurable conditions for the level of applicability of each principle. They are validated through a survey and ranked for importance. To describe the characteristics of the real situation and benchmark them against the criteria, specific, measurable indicators are defined at the third level. DIAMONDS collects criteria for a number of sustainable development scenarios through expert interviews and a literature study. The sustainable development scenarios investigated are the interactions between (i) groundwater used for drinking water production and aquifer thermal energy storage; (ii) gas storage and geothermal energy; and (iii) geothermal energy with multiple doublet systems. Compernolle, T.; Eswaran, A.; Welkenhuysen, K.; Hermans, T,; Walraevens, K.; Camp, M.; Buyle, M.; Audenaert, A.; Bleys, B.; Schoubroeck, S.; Bergmans, A.; Goderniaux, P.; Baele, J.; Kaufmann, O.; Vardon, P.; Daniilidis, A.; Orban, P.; Dassargues, A.; Serge, B.; Piessens, K. Geological Society Special Publication (2023) 528, 101-121, DOI: 10.1144/SP528-2022-75 |