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IRETHERM

Iretherm Workshop 2016

IRETHERM is an interdisciplinary project connecting academia and industry in order to foster research related to the development of geothermal energy in Ireland. After five years of work on a variety of targets in Ireland, employing and developing tools in many geoscientific scientific disciplines, this project is coming to its end.

This workshop was meant not only to present work done in this project, but also to point out research needs, and collect ideas for the future. We thank all participants for the lively and constructive discussion.

Time:

Friday, April 1, 2016,     9:00 – 18:30

Venue:

Lecture Theatre
Geological Survey of Ireland
Beggars Bush
Haddington Road
Dublin

Agenda:

9:00                     Registration & Coffee
9:30 – 11:00        Iretherm contributions I (Convener N. Willmot Noller, UCD)

V. Rath et al. Introduction: The Experience of IRETHERM 9:30 – 9:45
R. Delhaye et al. Accurate Estimation of Sediments Conductivities in the Rathlin Basin using Magnetotellurics 9:45 – 10:00
X. Ogaya et al. New MT Results from the Clare and NW Carboniferous Basins 10:00 – 10:15
J. Vozar et al. Joint Inverse Modelling of Geophysical Data from Lough Neagh Basin 10:15 – 10:30
A. Licciardi et al. Exploring Sedimentary Basins with Receiver Function: the Dublin Basin Case Study 10:30 – 10:45
J. Campanya et al. Estimating Porosity and Permeability from Electromagnetic Measurements in Basins 10:45 – 11:00

11:00 – 11:30     Coffee Break & Poster Session
11:30 – 13:00     Iretherm contributions II (Convener R. Delhaye, DIAS)

S. Blake et al. An investigation of Ireland’s thermal springs: provenance, pathways and potential 11:30 – 11:45
N. Willmot Noller et al. Constraining heat production rates in Ireland’s continental crust 11:45 – 12:00
T. Fritschle et al. Controls on the geothermal potential of the buried Kentstown and Glenamaddy plutons, Ireland – implications from hydrothermal alteration 12:00 – 12:15
T. Farrell et al. The Geothermal Energy Potential of the Galway Granite 12:15 – 12:30
V. Rath et al. Paleoclimate Correction for Ireland 12:30 – 12:45
J. Fullea et al. Structure and Properties of the Lithosphere below Ireland 12:45 – 13:00

13:00 – 14:00     Lunch & Poster Session
14:00 – 15:30     Invited contributions (Convener V. Rath, DIAS)

A. Manzella The Role of Magnetotellurics in Geothermal Exploration

14:00 – 14:20

E. Huenges Research demand for geothermal development in Europe

14:20 – 14:40

P. Younger Next steps in EU Research and Demonstration on Engineered Geothermal Systems

14:40 – 15:00

S. Fuchs Why Borehole Data Govern Successful Geothermal Exploration

15:00 – 15:20

15:30 – 16:30     Coffee Break & Poster Session
16:30 – 17:15     Panel Discussion   (Convener C. Bean, DIAS)

The aim of this discussion was to define the areas of research that are important for the future development and use of geothermal energy in Ireland and elsewhere. The work in IRETHERM was focused at the very early stage of exploration for usable geothermal resources, and has produced many valuable results. However, there is still a large need for further research. This surely implies the improvement of geoscientific tools, including the development of methods which allow a better estimation of subsurface properties using all available data or constraints, together with the characterization of the uncertainty of the resulting models, including non-uniqueness and spatial resolution. Even more important is the necessity of generating or accessing adequate data for these challenging problems. Public affordable access to existing data, as well as substantial funding of research aimed at this goal will be necessary in order to allow geothermal energy to play a role in the decarbonisation process of Ireland in the future. Geothermal energy also has a problem concerning the lack of a legal basis, education, and public perception.

Panelists:

A. Manzella (CNR, Pisa, IT), N. O’Neill (SLR, IE), R. Pasquali (GAI, GeoServ, IE), E. Huenges (GFZ Potsdam, DE), P. Younger (Univ. of Glasgow, UK)

17:15    –    The End (wine and cheese)

9:30 – 18:00     Posters:

S. Blake et al:

Compositional data analysis of hydrochemical data from Irish thermal springs

S. Blake et al:

Electromagnetic imaging of hydrothermal circulation systems beneath two thermal springs in Ireland

N. Piana Agostinetti et al:

Joint inversion of Receiver Function and Magnetotelluric data via structure decoupling algorithm

D. Kiyan et al:

Results from the Tellus A1 airborne electromagnetic data near Irish warm springs

J. Vozar et al:

Magnetotelluric investigations in the Newcastle area (Dublin Basin)

T. Farrell et al:

Temperature at depth within a granite batholith: a case study from the Galway Granite