CHPM2030: Combined Heat Power and Metal extraction from ultra-deep ore bodies.

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CHPM2030 project closure

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CHPM2030 Final meeting

The CHPM2030 project partners met in Lillafüred, Hungary, for the last Consortium meeting, hosted by the coordinator, University of Miskolc. On the first day the six WP leaders presented the final outcomes and the status of deliverables. Tamas Miklovicz from LPRC presented WP6 – Roadmapping and preparation for pilots and the CHPM Roadmap and recommendations for future research projects (view Prezi slideshow here). Two brainstorming sessions were held, with similar aims: on the first, Tamás Madarász, coordinator from UNIM, facilitated a discussion regarding “Potential for follow-up; How to proceed?”, and the partners discussed each technological components and evaluated whether it shall proceed as a complete CHPM look or as individual components, considering opportunities and threats. The second session was about “Preparation for the pilots, potential funding sources, future projects”. It reviewed each work packages within the project for ideas, funding opportunities, research topics, and the continuation of CHPM technology. Project reporting and financial issues were also discussed in the afternoon.

On the second day, the partners visited the Miskolc geothermal district heating system and its infrastructure (offices, heat exchangers, production/injection wells). The host, PannErgy, introduced the geological, geothermal and engineering aspects of the system.

As of June 30th, the working period of the project officially finished, and now the team is working on the project technical and financial reporting. LPRC is responsible to provide the technical reporting of the whole of WP6.

The objectives of WP6 – Roadmapping and preparation for pilots

The CHPM technology is a low-TRL, novel and disruptive but fragile idea, that needs further nurturing and future oriented thinking. Work Package 6 represents these forward-looking efforts and aims to set the ground for subsequent pilot implementation by working on three interlinked areas: mapping convergent technology areas (linked to CHPM exploration, development, operation and market), study potential pilot areas and develop future research roadmaps.These three areas are grouped under the WP6 subtasks: Task 6.1 Horizon scanning & Visions; Task 6.2 Preparation for pilots; Task 6.3 Roadmapping. The work of WP6, including the 3 sub-tasks has been implemented thanks to the coordination and facilitation of LPRC, with the involvement of all Partners, Advisory Board members and external Experts. WP6 ran since December 2017.

Task 6.1 Horizon Scanning and Visions 

Recently, the two main activities in this task were: the 2nd round of the CHPM2030 Delphi survey and the Visioning workshop.

The Delphi survey was a 2 round, expert input based foresight tool, that was completed by 133 participants, worldwide. All Partners received and completed both rounds. Partners, especially EFG and UNIM, used their professional network and channels (website, social media, newsletters) to invite participants. The survey built on the results of the Horizon Scanning exercise, and the 2nd round incorporated the results from the 1st, so participants could re-evaluate their feedback. The survey provided insight about important, but uncertain areas in the future, while mapping convergent technology areas and emerging issues. The results have been processed by LPRC, and were used to define discussion topics and issues for theVisioning workshop.

The CHPM2030 Visioning workshop brought together Consortium partners (ISOR, VITO, KUL, UNIM, EFG, LPRC (methodology & host), BGS) and external Experts (industry, academia), from both geothermal and mineral sectors. The participant selection was based on constructive contribution in the Delphi survey, and partner’s recommendations. The one-day workshop included an introduction with presentations, two group sessions and a plenary. The group sessions focused on setting up targets related to already identified aspects of the technology (exploration, development, operation, market), based on previous results and expert judgement. The last session was about consensus building, where the facilitators presented the group’s results and an agreement was formed about the established targets. 

The results from the Horizon Scanning exercise, Delphi survey and Visioning workshop have been processed and synthesized into Deliverable 6.1 Report on Emerging and Converging technologies, related to the future of CHPM technology.

Task 6.2 Preparation for pilots

This subtask had three activities in the recent period: finalising the evaluation template, evaluating study areas, and creation of an EU spatial database on prospective locations. 

The first step for this task was the creation of the evaluation template (with the help of BGS, LNEG, IGR, SGU, UNIM, facilitated by LPRC) through online meetings, email communication, field trips and a workshop. This served as a “checklist” for important characteristics to consider when looking into CHPM potential. During the creation of the evaluation strategy, a field trip in Romania was organised by IGR (BGS, UNIM, LPRC, participated), following the previous Cornwall field trip (22-24th of May 2018) organised by BGS. A strong emphasis was given to 3D modelling and to compile all available geological information at one place for reinterpretation.

The 5 study areas from 4 countries have been evaluated according to this new strategy, investigating the CHPM potential. With the help of these study reports and the European outlook study, the following items have been clarified: 1) the information available at each area, 2) the CHPM potential based on this geoscientific data, 3) remaining gaps to be overcome in the future. The evaluated areas are Cornwall in South West England by BGS, Portuguese Iberian Pyrite Belt by LNEG, Beius Basin and Bihor Mountains in Romania by IGR, Nautanen and Kristineberg in Sweden by SGU.

The 5 study areas from 4 countries have been evaluated according to this new strategy, investigating the CHPM potential. With the help of these study reports and the European outlook study, the following items have been clarified: 1) the information available at each area, 2) the CHPM potential based on this geoscientific data, 3) remaining gaps to be overcome in the future. The evaluated areas are Cornwall in South West England by BGS, Portuguese Iberian Pyrite Belt by LNEG, Beius Basin and Bihor Mountains in Romania by IGR, Nautanen and Kristineberg in Sweden by SGU.

The British Geological Survey staff (Paul A J Lusty, Richard B Haslam, Richard A Shaw, Eimear A Deady, Paul Williamson) produced a c. 160 page detailed report on SW England. This worked with information sources reported in WP1, and also new information coming out of the ongoing geothermal investigations in SW England (e.g. the United Downs Deep Geothermal Power project, and also the GWatt project). A detailed reappraisal of the data was undertaken. In summary, the report considered the availability of geoscience information, the geological environment, geothermal characteristics, potential for deep metal enrichment, and technical, environmental, social and regulatory factors that could influence the future development of CHPM extraction technology in the region. Preliminary modelling of the Cornubian Batholith has been undertaken to improve understanding of its properties relevant to geothermal energy development. A regional model was constructed to understand the spatial relationship of key geological parameters. These data was used for the development of two site-scale models that aimed to improve understanding of the fracture network and flow pathways at the reservoir-scale. South-west England, and specifically Cornwall, is an excellent location for a pilot-scale CHPM system. 

The report on the Portuguese Iberian Pyrite Belt (~50 pages), prepared by the Portuguese National Laboratory of Energy and Geology (Elsa Cristina Ramalho, João Xavier Matos, João Gameira Carvalho), evaluated the Variscan metallogenic province, massive sulphide deposits, prospect for deep mineralization for CHPM potential. The study area report provided an update on the geoscientific data and information on SW IPB, 3D modeling (focused on the Neves-Corvo Mine) and geophysical data. The future research programmes should investigate the deeper ore deposits, with 3D/4D modeling, new deep seismics, 3D electromagnetic forward modeling and 3D inversion. The Lombador orebody, which is present at 2-3 km, has the potential to extend the lifetime of the mine with CHPM technology. Strong cooperation with the mining company that is exploiting the mine and the Portuguese government is recommended.

The report from Romania (~80 pages), developed by Geological Institute of Romania (Diana Perșa, Ștefan Marincea, Delia Dumitraș, Cătălin Simion), provided information about the CHPM potential of the Beius Basin (up and running geothermal heating system, Mg skarns, high geothermal potential), and the Bihor Mountains (granodiorite- granite plutonic body related, skarn (Fe, Bo, Bi, Mo, W), vein (Cu, Zn, Pb, sulphides). IGR has also developed a new 3D geological model, compiling all available geoscientific information of the study area. The future recommendations on this area describe new geothermal models (150 Celsius), refraction seismic for the plutonic body and mineral indications and fracture network modeling for understanding reservoir characteristics.

The Swedish report (~70 pages), delivered by Geological Survey of Sweden (Gerhard Schwarz, Benno Kathol, Magnus Ripa, Bo Thunholm, Edward P Lynch, Johan Jönberger), described 2 ore provinces: Kristineberg area (Skellefte district, volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits, Zn, Cu, Au), and Nautanen area (Northern Norrbotten district, IOCG, Cu, Fe, Au). The challenges here are the low geothermal gradient, limited information at 5-7 km depth, low permeability and hydraulic conductivity and lack of information about deep-seated fluids. It is recommended that future exploration includes identification of metal bearing formation at crustal depths (seismic velocities, electrical resistivity), 3D/4D modelling, stimulation, involvement of the mining industry and ER regional development funds, achieving public acceptance, among others.

Besides evaluating concrete study areas, the European Federation of Geologist (Domenico Marchese, Anita Demény, Isabel Fernandez) led the European outlook for prospective locations, with the help of the its National Associations that are involved in the project as Linked Third Parties (LTPs). In total there were 24 countries covered: Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine, Austria, Croatia, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Slovakia, Sweden, the United Kingdom. Each National Association had 3 tasks: 1) Area selection: definition of areas most likely to be a future CHPM candidate; 2. Basic area evaluation: the task continued with the evaluation of the basic characteristics of the selected areas; 3) CHPM characteristics: this task considered a deeper investigation and data evaluation of the most likely CHPM sites. EFG and LPRC provided instructions and templates for the LTPs and organised an orientation workshop, so they were full up to date with the task. Through continuous communication with the LTPs, EFG collected the 3 reports for most countries, describing the 3 tasks mentioned above. The result is a selection of areas that has potential for future CHPM application, which has been uploaded to a publicly available spatial database: http://bit.ly/CHPMinfoplatform.

Task 6.3 Roadmapping

This subtask had three future-oriented activities related to 2030 and 2050 time horizons, building different layers of the CHPM roadmap:  1) CHPM component roadmap, 2) Preparation for future Pilots, 3) Overall concept of CHPM. The objective of Task 6.3 was to provide a timeline and direct support for the implementation of CHPM and support breakthrough research. These activities were building on the results of the Task 6.1 and 6.2 and all Partners, AB members and external Experts have been involved in this process. Each layer provided recommendations about how to advance the area and support future pilot implementation. 

The “CHPM component roadmap” provides a direct follow-up of the current technological components, by describing the state-of-the-art (2019: current state of the component, achievements, results during the project, referenced to the relevant deliverable), immediate research plan (2025: next actions, targets to continue the research on the technological component after the project), pilot research plan (2030: requirements of the component before integrating it into a CHPM pilot application), and long term objectives (2050: requirements of the component before integrating it into a CHPM commercial application). The technological components and the researchers working on the roadmap are the following: Integrated reservoir management (Szanyi János, Máté Osvald, Tamás Medgyes, University of Szeged); Metal content mobilization using mild leaching (Christopher Rochelle, BGS); Metal content mobilization with nanoparticles (Steven Mullens, VITO); High-temperature and high-pressure (HTHP) electrolytic metal recovery (Ramasamy Palaniappan, Jan Fransaer, KU Leuven, Xochitl Dominguez-Benetton, VITO); Metal recovery via gas-diffusion electrocrystallization (GDEx), (Xochitl Dominguez-Benetton, VITO); Salinity-gradient power by reverse electrodialysis (SGP-RE) (Joost Helsen, VITO); System integration (Árni Ragnarsson, ISOR).

The “Preparation for future pilots” study investigated the pathway to pilot implementation by 2030, by providing a detailed area description and future recommendations. This task was completed at 5 areas in Europe by their representing partner (Cornwall by BGS, Iberian Pyrite Belt by LNEG, Beius Basin/Bihor Mountains by IGR, Kristineberg and Nautanen by SGU). The recommendations covered 1) future exploration plans for the technological components (getting new geoscientific information, exploration methods and tools to obtain relevant information regarding the technological components (outlined in the evaluation template), 2) funding opportunities (EU funds projects, PPP, private investors, other financing) and 3) Stakeholder engagement (involved parties, end users, stakeholders, policy and regulatory issues).

 “Overall concept of CHPM” study investigated the feasibility of combining geothermal energy and mineral extraction with the use of foresight tools such as Horizon Scanning, Delphi survey and Expert workshops. The emerging issues were split into four main themes (CHPM exploration, development, operation, market). These topics and their subtopics were delivered and refined through the foresight exercises in WP6.

The Roadmapping workshop was the continuation of the Visioning workshop with the involvement of the Consortium partners  and external Experts. The main task of the group work were the validation of previously identified targets (vision) and the backcasting exercise itself (actions). After the workshop, LPRC processed the results, and presented the findings in D6.3, a document about the recommendations on targets, actions, signposts, wildcards linked to exploration, development, operation, and market, including a visualisation for each theme.

The CHPM WP leaders are going to meet one more time at the project review meeting at GeoHub, Brussels in the end of August.

Download and read our reports under the following buttons.

Report on Emerging and Converging Technologies

Report on Pilots (compiled from 5 reports)

Roadmap for 2030 and 2050

Constructing Social Futures conference, Turku

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Constructing Social Futures – Sustainability, Responsibility and Power conference took place between 12-13th of June in Turku, Finland, bringing together the foresight community. The theme was the concept of agency in action and research for futures. ‘Constructing Futures’ emphasizes opportunities and challenges related to the need for building and critically evaluating capabilities necessary for sustainable futures. This conference created a cross-disciplinary platform where participants could meet, share, and discuss new ideas concerning social futures. These two days consisted of keynote lectures, parallel sessions, participatory workshops and chaired poster session, from multidisciplinary topics.

The fist keynote presentation was held by Dr. Ivana Milojević (Metafuture) about the Power for, against, with and within: Futures studies as practice. Ivana’s set the tone for the conference with her passionate talk addressing two central questions: “Can futures studies, as a practice, make a difference?”, and “To what extent are futures being constructed through participation that reflects moral agency and leads to better futures for all?”. The second keynote presentation was given by Professor Ullrich Kockel (Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh) about the Heritage Futures: Tradition, Gain, Sustainability. The afternoon continued with 7 paralel sessions for ~15 minute presentations on topics such as Combining corporate foresight with corporate social responsibility and Citizen science, power, responsibility and foresight.

LPRC was represented by Tamas Miklovicz, who gave a presentation about the Application of foresight methods in the research of a disruptive geothermal technology (CHPM), in the session on Foresight activities and their effect on sustainability transitions. The presentation was focusing on the methodological aspect of how to make use of foresight tools for such a challenging technology. The presentation was well received and participants appreciated the robust methodology behind the CHPM roadmapping process. You can have a look at Tamas’s presentation in  the video below:

The second day continued with sessions and workshops on topics like Back to the futures we want: Envisioning and backcasting for Sustainable futures, and Utopias to combat futures by-negation, and The roles of futures studies in the negotiation of values and desired futures. The event was concluded with two keynote presentations. First Professor Keri Facer talked about All our futures? Climate change, democracy and missing public spaces. The second was given by Professor Ted Fuller On responsible futures: What can we do, what should we do?

All keynote speakers were donated a ~3 hectare peatland in Finland. Peatlands are the largest natural terrestrial carbon store, and among the most important ecosystems on Earth*, also helping us to reduce carbon footprint of the anthropocene.

You can read the Book of Abstract here and you may rediscover the event on Twitter following the #futuresconference2019.

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The Futures Conference 2019 was very inspiring! Many great ideas have been shared, discussed and agreed about building a more sustainable future. After the conference, arriving home, the real question remains: are we going to plant these seeds into our everyday life to nurture a sustainable future? We all hope that we do indeed, throughout our everyday decisions.

*https://www.iucn.org/resources/issues-briefs/peatlands-and-climate-change

CHPM2030 final conference, Delft

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The CHPM2030 final conference took place last week, in Delft, the Netherlands, within the framework of the EuroWorkshop “Geology and the energy transition”. The workshop was organised by the European Federation of Geologists, with the aim to provide insights on the energy transition and how it affects geosciences. During the morning session, “Policy discussed by policymakers”, speakers discussed about Geology and energy transition (Vítor Correia), The subsurface at our service (Ruud Cino), The changing role of Petroleum Geoscientists in the Energy Transition (Eilard Hoogerduijn Strating) and The R&I frontiers as envisaged by the European Technology & Innovation Platform on Deep Geothermal (Adele Manzella). In the afternoon, there were two parallel sessions. The session on “Geosciences in the energy transition” introduced projects where geoscience plays a key role in the realisation of the energy transition, while the session on CHPM2030 provided details on the final outcomes of the project.

The session on CHPM2030 included presentations by different project partners: Overview of the CHPM2030 project results (Éva Hartai, Tamás Madarász), Metal content mobilisation from deep ore bodies (Chris Rochelle), Metal recovery from geothermal fluids (Xochitl Dominguez), Salt gradient power generation by reverse electrodialysis (Joost Helsen), System integration and conceptual framework for the CHPM plant (Árni Ragnarsson) and Economic and environmental aspects of the CHPM technology (Wojtech Wertich).

The last presentation was given by Tamas Miklovicz, La Palma Research Centre, who showed the preliminary results of the CHPM roadmap. LPRC’s main contribution to the project, given its foresight capabilities, is the development of the CHPM research roadmap, focusing on 2030 and 2050 time horizons. The roadmap document will cover three layers of the technology: 1) CHPM component roadmap, providing a direct follow-up of the current technological components; 2) Preparation for future pilots, investigating how to arrive to pilot readiness level at distinct European study areas (Cornwall in the UK, Portuguese Iberian Pyrite Belt, Beius Basin and Bihor Mountains in Romania, Kristineberg, Nautanen areas in Sweden) including an European Outlook with a CHPM information platform on prospective locations; and, 3) Overall CHPM concept, investigating the future of the combination of geothermal energy with mineral extraction, using foresight methods (Horizon Scanning, Delphi survey, Visioning, Roadmapping). The roadmap is going to be published by the end of June, but until then, you can go ahead the follow the Tamas’s Roadmap Prezi slideshow below:

A fieldtrip was organised on the second day with the theme Exploring the Anthropocene, on the Sedimentary dynamics of the Dutch coast, showcasing how the current Dutch landscape was formed during the Holocene (since around 11 700 years ago) sea level rise. The workshop participants also visited many of the flood protection infrastructure – commonly known as dams – that prevent the Dutch deep lands to be flooded by groundwater, incoming rivers or the sea. The most impressive site was the Maeslantkering mobile storm surge barrier: it is an engineering marvel and one of Earth’s largest moving structures.

The CHPM2030 partners are going to meet again in Miskolc, Hungary, at the end of June, to conclude the project and wrap up the results.

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CHPM2030 Roadmapping workshop, Las Palmas

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LPRC organised the CHPM2030 Roadmapping Workshop in Las Palmas as a follow-up of the previous Visioning workshop, under WP6 – Roadmapping and preparation for pilots. The participants were selected from both Consortium members and external research centres and companies from the geothermal and mineral sectors.

After the introduction presentations from Tamás Madarasz: CHPM2030 State of the art, Tamás Miklovicz: WP6 context, and Marco Konrat: Roadmapping methodology, the main tasks were the validation of previously identified targets (vision), and the backcasting exercise itself. The targets are related to  two distinct time horizons: 2030 pilot level (TRL 6-7), and 2050 full scale application (TRL 8-9). The sum of the targets is the vision description, and it is formulated as the desired end-state to arrive by 2050. The proposed targets were delivered at the Visioning workshop with the use of the results from the Delphi survey, and the Horizon Scanning exercise.

In short, the Vision describes where to go (targets) and the Roadmap outlines how to get there (actions + timeline). The backcasting exercise allowed the CHPM team to investigate how to reach the goals and what actions and paths need to be taken and pursued. Whenever investigating a target, the group considered three aspects, when formulating the actions: 1) underlying research & knowledge, 2) capabilities, performance & technologies and, 3) partnership and actors. When thinking about the long term targets in 2050, “wildcards”, unexpected disruptive events that may influence reaching the vision, were also considered. The participants were split into two parallel groups for the sake of the exercise: development and exploration, and operation and market, facilitated by Tamas Miklovicz and Marco Konrat, respectively. At the last session, all participants came together and the group facilitators presented the results from the previous two sessions.

This line of activities will be only one layer of the final CHPM2030 roadmaps. This particular aspect is testing the overall concept of the cross fertilization of the geothermal and mineral industries. The second layer consists of investigating concrete areas for CHPM application and providing gaps and recommendations at four EU study areas in Sweden, UK, Portugal and Romania. The third layer is the direct followup and research plan of the current technological components of the CHPM scheme. When put together, these elements will make up the final Research Roadmap for the CHPM technology.

During the second day, the participants visited the Spanish Bank of Algae, as part of a field trip The facility provides many services, including the bank of microalgae and cyanobacteria strains, genomic DNA bank, algal biomass production for industry, production of seaweed extracts on demand for companies in the biotechnology sector, analysis of samples for the determination of algae, deposit and maintenance of strains for registration of industrial property. More than 2000 algae strains are stored in the algae bank and  many interesting research activities were presented to the group. The next stop was PLOCAN, the Oceanic Platform of the Canary Islands. The guided tour included a presentation of the ongoing activities and research of the infrastructure and a visit to the control room and laboratories with ROVs, sailbouys and submarine autonomous gliders.

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The LPRC team will now take these new input and start drafting the roadmaps for the CHPM technology in the future! We will present the roadmap at the final conference in Delft, and it will be finalised later in June!

CHPM2030 Visioning workshop, Las Palmas

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LPRC recently organised the CHPM2030 Visioning Workshop in Las Palmas. The participants were selected from both Consortium members, external research centres and companies from the geothermal and mineral sector. The workshop is part of the project’s forward looking exercise which is aiming to set the ground for subsequent implementation of the CHPM (Combined Heat Power and Metal extraction) technology in the future (2030/2050). The goal of this workshop is to create a shared vision, clear picture, description about how the technology ideally evolves by 2030/2050 and set tangible/measurable targets for it.

The workshop begun with introductory presentations (Tamas Madarasz: CHPM state-of-the-art, Tamas Miklovicz: WP6 context and Marco Konrat: Visioning methodology), to which the main exercise followed: the group discussion of given topics (eg. drilling) about requirements vs. achievability and targets that must be achieved before the CHPM technology can reach pilot level (TRL 6-7) by 2030 and full scale (TRL 8-9) by 2050. The different topics were grouped as  exploration and market, development and operation. Each contained subtopics and issues that had emerged during the Delphi survey. This was not a exhaustive list, and the participants added new issues or reformulated relevant ones during the group work. The aim of the group work was to set measurable targets at each relevant issue for 2030 and/or 2050 (eg. reduce drilling cost by 2030 within 30%). The sum of the targets is the vision for the given area.

The last session was about consensus building. For this, the team brought all group visions together (per area, per time horizon) and created a shared vision for 2030 and 2050. There is still a lot post-processing to be done, but the work will now continue with fresh ideas and new input. The CHPM 2030 and 2050 roadmaps will be based on this vision and will outline actions in order to meet the proposed targets and arrive at the desired future.

On the second day, the participants visited PLOCAN‘s oceanic research platform. The Oceanic Platform of the Canary Islands (PLOCAN) is a Research Infrastructure (RI) labeled by the ICTS (Unique Scientific and Technological Infrastructure) Spanish National Roadmap. The visit covered a boat trip to see the offshore platform, and a presentation at the onshore laboratories about the ongoing PLOCAN research and blue economy of the Canary Islands.

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The work will continue with processing of the workshop results, and prepare the Vision for the Roadmapping activities in early 2019!

CHPM2030 Consortium and Advisory Board meeting, Iceland

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Iceland is a result of 16 million years* of geological work, undertaken by the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (divergent oceanic plate boundary) and a mantle plume (active hotspot). The two forces induce continuous basaltic volcanism, while building the mass of the island. The area is still very active with volcanic eruptions, excellent geothermal fields and breathtaking views. Iceland is a true geological paradise. The LPRC staff had the chance to visit some of the Icelandic scenery gems, including Kerid crater lake, Dyrhólaey arch, Thingvellir National Park, Geysir, and the Seljalandsfoss, Skógafoss and Gullfoss waterfalls (see gallery below), before the meeting started.

The first two days of the Consortium meeting were dedicated to the follow-up of the project work at WP and subtask level. The subtask leaders presented their progress since the Lanzarote Consortium meeting  until this point in time, and therefore the partners could discuss uncertain matters. Slightly more time was dedicated to WP6 Roadmapping and Preparation for Pilots (led by LPRC) and then to WP4 System Integration (led by ISOR). Both WPs have recently started and required leading input from the consortium partners. The WP4 presentation was followed by the session on Harmonization of technological elements, which is the most critical issue at the moment in the project. The second day finished with the preparation of the Advisory Board meeting, held on the following day, where the partners reviewed the challenges and topics where they are expecting input from the external Experts.

During the Advisory Board meeting, the WP leaders presented the state of the art of their work. Partners focused on the technological challenges they are facing and formulated questions towards the AB members. Each WP introduction – 5 in total – was followed by ~30 min discussion between the partners and the AB members. Some of the issues that came up during discussions included upscaling of the CHPM technology, harmonizing technological elements, and EGS (Enhanced Geothermal System) technological difficulties.

On the last day, the project partners and Advisory Board members visited the geothermally active Reykjanes Peninsula, SW from Reykjavík. This geothermal field is located in the junction of the divergent plate boundary and local tectonic fissures. The produced hot geothermal steam,  groundwater and seawater are used not only for direct heating, generating electricity, but also for molecular farming (algae cultivation), blue lagoon (spa, clinic, and R&D), fish farming and drying, and methanol production from CO2. The CHPM2030 team also visited the HS ORKA HQ, Reykjanes power plant, Iceland Deep Drilling Project (IDDP-2) drill site, the algae farming facility, and some other geothermal surface manifestations in the peninsula.

Work Package 6 partners will meet again soon in Brussels, at the GeoHub facilitites for a workshop on “harmonization of study area evaluation and 3D modelling”!

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*Catalogue of the Active Volcanoes of the World, Vol. 24 Iceland.

(Photos: Tamas Miklovicz, LPRC)

 

CHPM2030 Romania fieldtrip

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The CHPM2030 project participants visited the second study area in WP6 Roadmapping and Preparation for Pilots: Beius Basin, Romania. The field trip was organised by Diana Persa and Stefan Marincea from the Geological Institute of Romania.

In WP6, LPRC is deploying its foresight background for both the short-term and long-term planning of the CHPM (Combined Heat Power and Metal extraction) technology, with the involvement of the Partners and Advisory Board members. The short-term planning, by 2030, includes the study of 4 areas in the UK, Romania, Sweden and Portugal, with the help of the representing national geological surveys: British Geological Survey, Geological Institute of Romania, Swedish Geological Survey, Portuguese Geological Survey. The CHPM team recently visited the South-West England study site (read more at CHPM2030 Cornwall Fieldtrip), and now the focus was on the Romanian banatitic magmatic and metallogenic belt.

The participants first visited the town hall of Beius, located on the Northwest of Romania, where the local geothermal district heating system was explained. Some parts of the instrumentation were later visited by team. The field program included visits to several skarn related exposures of the banatitic magmatism, including Budureasa (Valea Mare, quarry with brucite bearing granodiorite-dolomite contact), Pietroasa (Dealul Gruiului, adit for exploiting magnesian borate bearing altered dolomite) and Baita (marble quarry, calcic skarns with base metal sulphides) in the Bihor Mts. and at Cazanesti (Cerboaia Valley, gehlenite bearing high temperature contact zone) in the Magureaua Vatei area. These skarns are especially interesting, as these are expected to be present 3-5 km depth at the host rock and magmatic intrusion contact zones. Since many of the surface exposure skarns were mineralised, it is expected to see similar processes at depth, being a special interest area for simultaneous geothermal energy and mineral extraction, the aim of the CHPM technology.

Besides the field exposures, the participants had the opportunity to visit the Turda salt mine, the Bears’ Cave at Chiscau and the Gold Museum in Brad. The study areas representative geological surveys will meet in October in Brussels, at GeoHub, to further advance discussions on the first pilots, to be developed by 2030.

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Delphi survey in the pipeline

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The LPRC’s foresight team is currently working on a two-round Delphi* survey for the CHPM2030 project in order to look into the future of important but uncertain issues related to CHPM -Combined Heat Power and Metal extraction – technology.

CHPM is a low-TRL, novel, potentially disruptive, but fragile idea, and therefore needs future oriented thinking and further nurturing beyond the duration of the project to become viable. LPRC’s Foresight team has taken on this challenge with the implementation of the Roadmapping and Preparation for Pilots work package. These forward-looking efforts aim to set the ground for subsequent pilot implementation by working on three interlinked areas: mapping convergent technology areas, study pilot areas and develop research roadmaps.

Schematic representation of a CHPM facility. ©CHPM2030 Team

The Delphi survey is in direct relation with the first area: mapping convergent technology areas, and represents long-term planning (for the year 2050). Preparation to the survey started with a small-scale Horizon Scanning exercise, including a literature review and an Experts’ workshop in Lanzarote in order to identify relevant factors, drivers, trends and issues to be further investigated in the Delphi. First, the structure and topics were drafted by LPRC and it was refined/completed during the Lanzarote workshop with the input from all Consortium partners. During this workshop, partners were mapping key interest areas (geothermal drilling, scaling, metal recovery, exploration, etc.), identifying gaps (challenges, bottlenecks, difficulties, enablers) within these areas, and then came up with ideas for statements to be used in the Delphi survey. The work has been split into two groups and facilitated by the moderators of LPRC.

Workshop in Lanzarote, Canary Islands

The final survey included 12 statements on topics from both geothermal (scaling, geothermal drilling, metal mobilization, etc.) and mineral (geophysical methods, use of AI and ML for data interpretation, deep exploration drilling, etc.) topics, together with overall operational challenges (Social Licence to Operate, market penetration, etc.). The participants were asked to freely comment on the statements in the 1st round. In the 2nd round, the previous comments and insight were already included, so the participants were invited to comment in light of previous Expert opinions, reaching towards a consensus. Additional input fields were added: time horizon and previously identified emerging issues. Together with the 1st and 2nd round, more than 160 surveys have been completed by Experts from both mineral and geothermal sectors, worldwide.

Global participation in the first 1st round of the CHPM2030 Delphi survey.

The 2nd round of the CHPM2030 Delphi survey has just finished! LPRC is currently processing the results. However, if you would like to participate in the following “open” round, with curiosity of the statements, please go ahead and read what the Experts have to say about the future of Combined Heat Power and Metal extraction technology and more: share your own opinion!

Access the Delphi survey here: https://goo.gl/forms/FWcgdHJsXqLfTv0I3

*The Delphi survey was originally developed as a technological forecasting technique, which aimed at reaching consensus over relevant technological developments. Nowadays, Delphi expanded into a variety of modified approaches. However, at its core Delphi stands out as a reliable method in situations where individual judgements must be tapped and combined to address an incomplete state of knowledge. Delphi is based on anonymous opinions of experts who are fed back the results of a round-based survey, allowing these experts to rethink their judgement and converge to consensus over key identified areas.

©European Union

Busy week in Brussels

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On June 4, LPRC joined the FTA (Future-oriented Technology analysis) 2018 – Future in the making at the Square Business Centre in Brussels. The event is organised every two years by the Joint Research Centre (JRC). The conference opening was held by Vladimir Sucha, Directorate-General of JRC. The keynote speaker, Gerd Leonhard, brought a presentation on ‘Technology vs Humanity’ and reflected over the impacts that the exponential evolution of technology can have in our society and us as human beings. After the plenary, parallel sessions were held, and LPRC joined “The changing nature of work” and the “Changing the paradigm to build a sustainable future?” sessions.

After the opening keynote speech in the morning session, LPRC participated in 3 parallel sessions. The first one, about Scenario design for policy making, involved speakers from private companies, governmental bodies, and EU projects. Here, they talked about a scenario-based strategising approach, counterfactual construction of scenarios for the future, debiasing political decision making trough “value-free” scenario models, using science fiction and design to materialise scenarios, and the combination of scenarios with multi-actor multi-criteria analysis. The second session was entitled “Towards innovative approaches” and showcased many new and hybrid foresight methods that are already being used. At the last session, it was presented an in-depth review of current applications of the Horizon Scanning technique, including foresight radars and circular foresight processes. It was interesting to see how many companies, governments and EU projects are using foresight methods and future studies for various reasons and applications – and there are a lot.

On June 5, LPRC presented the !VAMOS¡ project at the “Social Acceptance in the European Raw Materials Sector” event organised by EASME. The presentation focused on the two stakeholders’ engagements that the project ¡VAMOS! had so far and general aspects of mining social acceptance, with the particular case of a novel technology as is the ¡VAMOS! one. The event brought together a diverse audience and many European projects sharing their experiences with social acceptance in the context of raw materials.

The EU Sustainable Energy Week took place between the 5th and 7th of June in Brussels. The main event, focusing on sustainable energies, was followed by many side events. One of these events, the “Upscaling Blue Energy”, hosted by IMIEU on the 7th, was attended by Tamas Miklovicz, where he presented the CHPM2030 project to the participants. Later that day, at the main venue, EFG and LPRC co-organized a session on “Decarbonisation of the heating and cooling sector: coupling efficiency and renewables with security of supply”. During the presentations, Tamas Miklovicz talked about multidisciplinary approaches for geothermal resources, including the CHPM technology, and Anita Demeny (EFG) participated in the panel discussion.

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CHPM2030 Cornwall field trip

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The CHPM2030 partners met in Cornwall between the 22-24th of May, to study the Cornubian granite province, which is a potential CHPM site in the future. The field trip was led and hosted by Eimear Deady and Richard Shaw from the British Geological Survey.

The first day started at the United Downs geothermal project site. This site is being prepared for a geothermal drilling operation. The well doublet goes into the Carnmenellis granite body and the produced hot water will fuel a demonstration power plant with 1 megawatt of electric power. The next stop from the field trip was at the Carn Brea viewpoint where the tectonic setting, geology and mineralization in the area around the Camborne-Redruth mining district was explained. Next, the partners visited the famous Crowns engine houses at Botallack and had a guided tour at the Geevor tin mine, including ore processing facilities and underground tunnels. In the evening, the CHPM2030 partners had the opportunity to network with industry representatives in Cornwall, including the Cornish Lithium, GeoScience Limited, Avalon Science Limited, Camborne School of Mines and EGS Energy.

On the second day, the group visited the old HDR site at Rosemanowes Quarry in the Carnmenellis Granite. The deep drill holes, (>2000 meters), are still open and perfect for Avalon Science Limited to test and calibrate their latest cutting edge equipments. The next stop was at the Wheal Jane mine water treatment plant. Wheal Jane was a tin mine, which closed in 1991. The water is currently being pumped from the mine and treated in surface facilities. During the afternoon the partners studied the porphyritic biotite granite at Cligga head. Sheeted greisen tin-tungsten (Sn-W) and tin-tungsten-copper (Sn-W-Cu) can be observed with sulphide mineralizations. The second day finished with a discussion about the study area’s evaluation strategies related to WP6 – Roadmapping and Preparation to Pilots. The field trip was closed with the visit to Rinsey Cove, where it could be observed how the Tregonning-Godolphin Granite intruded into the local metasedimentary rocks, and their interaction.

360 degree view of the granite-metasediment contact zone, exposed near the shore platform (drag and move the photo to look around).

The CHPM2030 partners gather again in Romania to visit the next study area!

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  • Reference: Evolution of the Cornubian granite province, its mineralisation history and geothermal potential – Guide to the field excursion, edited by Eimear Deady, Richard Shaw, Paul Lusty, Chris Rochelle, BGS, soon available from CHPM2030 website.

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