Sustainable Geoenergy: New Findings and Future Directions at the HUN-REN Workshop

In recent decades, sustainability and the transition to renewable energy have become key economic, research, and societal issues, accompanied by technological advances and social changes aimed at mitigating climate change and ensuring sustainable energy supply. This topic will soon be discussed by renowned international and Hungarian researchers at an interdisciplinary scientific conference to be held on April 24–25 at the HUN-REN headquarters in Budapest, within a session focused on renewable geoenergy.

During the energy transition, increasing attention is being paid to alternative geoenergy sources, including geothermal energy and natural hydrogen as potential energy resources. While the exploitation of geothermal resources is a well-established practice worldwide, the energy use of natural hydrogen is still in its early stages. Gábor Tari, group chief geologist at OMV, and Eszter Békési, researcher at the HUN-REN Institute of Earth Physics and Space Science (HUN-REN FI), will speak in their presentations about developments in the geoenergy sector, possible alternative solutions, and the advancement of exploration and monitoring technologies related to natural hydrogen.

What methods are being tested for geothermal heat production in the Netherlands? Mark van der Meijde, a researcher at the University of Twente in the Netherlands, will give a presentation at the scientific conference on concepts for utilizing geothermal energy and the possibilities for monitoring its use.

Geothermal energy in sustainability

Of course, there are examples beyond the Netherlands. Bernhard Novotny, director of the Austrian OMV geothermal project, will give a presentation on how the decarbonization of Vienna can be supported. “Achieving the city’s goals of climate neutrality and independence from fossil fuels requires sustainable energy sources,” emphasizes Bernhard Novotny. In this effort, deep geothermal energy plays a key role, offering a clean, safe, and emission-free heating alternative from great depths, while leaving only a minimal land footprint.

How do Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) technologies help utilize heat from deeper layers? According to János Szanyi, a researcher at the University of Szeged, although geothermal energy is present throughout the Earth's crust, its exploitation has so far mainly been limited to areas where the heat-carrying medium is easily accessible. With EGS technologies, it is possible to harness heat from deeper layers - even in places where there is little or no thermal water, for example.

The HUN-REN Institute of Earth Physics and Space Science (HUN-REN FI) is currently conducting several studies examining the effects of geologically sourced carbon dioxide in both soil and air. Márta Berkesi, a researcher at HUN-REN FI, will speak about the relationship between Earth's depths and human habitats in the context of CO₂-rich fluids. Their research may contribute to refining new perspectives on climate change and could even aid in the prediction of earthquakes.

The detailed program of the April conference is available here. A full overview of the speakers and presentations from Section I can be found here.