CROWDTHERMAL aims to empower the European public to directly participate in the development of geothermal projects with the help of alternative financing schemes (crowdfunding) and social engagement tools. In order to reach this goal, the project will first increase the transparency of geothermal projects and technologies by creating one to one links between geothermal actors and the public so that a Social Licence to Operate (SLO) could be obtained. This will be done by assessing the nature of public concerns for the different types of geothermal technologies, considering deep and shallow geothermal installations separately, as well as various hybrid and emerging technology solutions. CROWDTHERMAL will create a social acceptance model for geothermal energy that will be used as baseline in subsequent actions for inspiring public support for geothermal energy. Parallel and synergetic with this CROWDTHERMAL will work out details of alternative financing and risk mitigation options covering the different types of geothermal resources and various socio-geographical settings. The models will be developed and validated with the help of three Case Studies in Iceland, Hungary and Spain and with the help of a Trans-European survey conducted by EFG Third Parties. Based on these feedbacks, a developers’ toolbox will be created with the aim of promoting new geothermal projects in Europe supported by new forms of financing and investment risk mitigation schemes that will be designed to work hand in hand with current engineering and microeconomic best practices and conventional financial instruments.

The main objective of MEET is to capitalize on the exploitation of the widest range of fluid temperature in EGS (Enhanced geothermal systems) plants and abandoned oil wells. The aim is to demonstrate the lower cost of small-scale production of electricity and heat in wider areas with various geological environments, in order to support a large increase of geothermal-based production sites in Europe in a near future. In order to boost the market penetration of geothermal power in Europe, MEET project main goal is to demonstrate the viability and sustainability of EGS with electric and thermal power generation in all kinds of geological settings with four main types of rocks: granitic (igneous intrusive), volcanic, sedimentary and metamorphic with various degrees of tectonic overprint by faulting and folding. MEET brings together 16 European partners: Industrials, small and medium enterprises, research institutes and universities, but also several geothermal demonstration sites in Europe located in the various geological environments described above. The project aims at the optimization of the reservoir productivity and stimulation techniques, taking advantage of the existing infrastructures, the understanding of the various geological contexts, necessary to transfer the current known EGS technology to other typical basement rock situations in Europe, the demonstration and optimization of electric and thermal power generation in different geological settings. The assessment of the technical, economic and environmental feasibility of EGS is an integral part of the project, as well as the mapping of the main promising European sites where EGS can or should be implemented in a near future. Thus, MEET will provide a roadmap of next promising sites where demonstrated EGS solutions could be replicated in a near future for electricity and heat production with an evaluation of the technology and its economic feasibility and environmental positive impacts.

Science4CleanEnergy, S4CE, is a multi-disciplinary consortium, of world-leading academics, research laboratories, SMEs and industries. S4CE will develop a project that includes fundamental studies of fluid transport and reactivity, development of new instruments and methods for the detection and quantification of emissions, micro-seismic events etc., lab and field testing of such new technologies, and the deployment of the successful detection and quantification technologies in sub-surface sites for continuous monitoring of the risks identified by the European Commission. S4CE leverages approximately 500M EUR in existing investments on 4 scientific field sites. S4CE will utilize monitoring data acquired during the project in these field sites on which (a) it will be possible to quantify the environmental impact of sub-surface geo-energy applications; (b) new technologies will be demonstrated; (c) data will be collected during the duration of the project, and potentially after the end of the project. Using reliable data, innovative analytical models and software, S4CE will quantify the likelihood of environmental risks ranging from fugitive emissions, water contamination, induced micro-seismicity, and local impacts. Such quantifications will have enormous positive societal consequences, because environmental risks will be prevented and mitigated. S4CE set up a probabilistic methodology to assess and mitigate both the short and the long term environmental risks connected to the exploration and exploitation of sub-surface geo-energy. S4CE will maintain a transparent dialogue with all stakeholders, including the public at large, the next generation of scientists, academics and industrial operators, including training of young post-graduate students and post-doctoral researchers. S4CE will deliver the independent assessment of the environmental footprint related to geo-energy sub-surface operations, having as primary impact the assistance to to policy making.