Geothermal energy is a sustainable and stable source of energy within the energy mix for the coming years, complementing other energy sources. For a very long time, the use of geothermal energy was limited to locations such as Iceland and Tuscany, situated on the boundaries of tectonic plates. In recent years, it has become apparent that areas within tectonic plates, such as the Rhine Graben and the Pannonian Basin in Hungary and neighbouring countries in Central Europe, offer excellent prospects for the use of geothermal energy for heat storage, heating for households and greenhouses, and the cooling of infrastructure.

Our guest speaker, Sierd Cloetingh, will discuss these developments, in which he is closely involved alongside his colleagues Jan-Diederik van Wees and Fred Beekman from Utrecht University and TNO. With the support of European research and innovation programmes, detailed knowledge of the subsurface is being gathered to identify promising sites. Research carried out into the deep subsurface of the Netherlands as part of oil and gas exploration provides an excellent starting point for selecting potential sites for geothermal drilling.

The technology is available. Examples from around the world demonstrate how geothermal exploration can be made a success.

Programme
15:30 Arrival with coffee/tea
16:00 Presentation Sierd Cloetingh
17:00 Networking drinks
18:30 End

About Sierd Cloetingh

Sierd Cloetingh (1950) was Professor of Tectonics at VU University Amsterdam from 1988. In 2006, he was appointed Academy Professor of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has received several academic awards in recognition of his work. In 2010, he and his research group moved to Utrecht University, where he has been a University Professor since 2013.