20410515 - GEOTHERMAL

The heat of the Earth’s interior is one of the main renewable energy resources, of which a strong development is expected as an instrument of international policies aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The course is designed to provide students with the elements for understanding the fundamental characteristics of high, medium and low enthalpy geothermal systems, and of the main exploration methods for which the geologist is the main professional figure. As part of the course students will progressively acquire the ability to reconstruct a conceptual model of geothermal system starting from geological, geophysical and geochemical data, which will define the main extensive and intensive properties of heat sources, geothermal reservoirs and cap rocks. The fundamentals of geospatial and numerical modeling applied to geothermal prospecting will also be addressed. Students will be stimulated to analyze the problems and propose the relative solutions.
teacher profile | teaching materials

Programme

The program is divided into blocks of lessons
Block 1 - Introduction and fundamental concepts on heat transmission
Block 2 - Conceptual models of geothermal systems
Block 3 - Methods of exploration
Block 4 - Regional geothermal
Block 5 - Elements of geothermal modeling of heat sources

Core Documentation

Geotermia. Nuove frontiere delle energie rinnovabili
di Beniamino Toro, Tania Ruspandini
Editore: Flaccovio Dario
Data di Pubblicazione: gennaio 2009


The pdf of the slides presented during the lessons will also be distributed

Reference Bibliography

Giordano et al 2013 JVGR Giordano et al 2014 ESR Maffucci et al 2016 Tecnonophysics

Type of delivery of the course

The course will be done in presence sided by presentation of slides and videos. The download on personal computers of free open-source software is required for the geothermal modeling

Type of evaluation

The exams will consist of questions related to the program carried out and the description of an essay that will be assigned individually or in groups on the topics of the program