Friday, August 26, 2016

Netherlands, Mexico: Collaborative Project to Advance Geothermal Exploration Techniques

The Earth as a source of energy (University of Utrecht)

(Courtesy CIA.gov)
European and Mexican Earth scientists, including some from the University of Utrecht and the Netherlands Organisation for applied scientific research or TNO, have started Gemex, a project aiming to understand the potential of geothermal energy.

(Courtesy CIA.gov)
The Gemex Project is an international collaboration between the EU and Mexico in which Earth scientists from Utrecht University, among others, together with colleagues from Mexico aim to detect heat which is stored deep underground to make easier and cheaper geothermal energy.

The Earth’s crust in Mexico is different to that of the Netherlands. In Mexico, it takes a depth of just one to two kilometers to reach about 130 to 300 degrees Celsius, whereas in the Netherlands it takes at least a depth of 4 km to reach that temperature.

The Gemex Project allows for relatively shallow boring to develop knowledge for the development of ultra-deep geothermal energy in the Netherlands at a low cost.

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