| Abstract |
The more than 5000 m deep sedimentary basins along the northern and southern fringes of the European Alps, feature a unique geological inventory which can contribute substantially to meet Europe’s ambitious targets for carbon emission reduction. These Molasse Basins offer abundant deep geothermal potential and underground storage capacity for weather dependent wind and solar fuels, gas or CO2. Boosting the use of deep geothermal energy and fostering resources efficiency require a sound, three-dimensional geological knowledge of the deep subsurface as the scaffolding for planning and management. To avoid mutual interferences with other subsurface utilizations also at cross-border scale, this information geared to serve planners, licensing authorities and project developers must be provided as a holistic, trans-nationally harmonized 3D geo-potential assessment. GeoMol’s transnational approach as performed in the Alpine Foreland Basins (uniting partners from Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Slovenia and Switzerland) responds to that providing consistent resources assessments based on common methods and concerted best practice, featuring a 3D subsurface model populated with regionalized physical properties. More than 28,000 km of seismic lines have been interpreted for structural 3D modeling and the definition of no-go areas due to active faults as the source of geological hazards. More than 4,000 km of borehole data were used for the determination of rock properties, e.g. the hydraulic conductivity of geothermal aquifers and for the setup of an improved temperature model. GeoMol’s outcomes are provided via a map server and a web-based geo data infrastructure for multi-dimensional subsurface data. This distributed-organized data share and analysis system is designed to serve governments, planners, and industry and allows for a role based login, thus adhering to national regulations on geo data access. |