Carbon isotope composition and origin of natural gas from the Petišovci-Dolina oil and gas field (Mura-Zala Basin, Pannonian Basin System, NE Slovenia) – a preliminary study

Carbon isotope composition and origin of natural gas from the Petišovci-Dolina oil and gas field (Mura-Zala Basin, Pannonian Basin System, NE Slovenia) – a preliminary study

This post is part of the GeoConnect³d blog. The carbon isotope composition of natural gas from the Petišovci-Dolina oil and gas field (Kerčmar, 2018; Markič et al., 2020) was measured for the first time in August and September 2021 (Figs.Read more

Meet our MUSE team from France

H. Williams, F. Veloso (BRGM), 11 October 2021 Meet our MUSE colleagues Fernanda Veloso and Harri Williams from the French Geological Survey (BRGM). Let them show you their experimental site for shallow geothermal energy at their premises in Orléans andRead more

MUSE pilot area activities – RESULTS – #13 Warsaw

Preparation of a 3D model and shallow geothermal energy resource maps Grzegorz Ryżyński, Przemysław Wojtaszek, Maciej Kłonowski (PGI-NRI), 7 October 2021 The activities accomplished within the MUSE project in the Warsaw pilot area, Poland, have focused on gathering and analysisRead more

MUSE pilot area activities – RESULTS – #12 Brussels

Modelling the interference of thermally unbalanced Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage systems Estelle Petitclerc (GSB) & Alain Dassargues (Liege University), 22 September 2021 In the pilot-area of Brussels, GSB focused on gathering data from two Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (ATES) operatingRead more

MUSE pilot area activities – RESULTS – #11 Cork

Assessment of hydrochemical and temperature measurements H. Bishop (GSI), 20 September 2021 Cork City is in the southwest of Ireland in the province of Munster. The city centre is located between two river channels that meet downstream at the easternRead more

MUSE pilot area activities – RESULTS – #10 Bratislava

Assessment of groundwater temperature measurements in an urbanized area R. Cernak (SGIDS), 30 August 2021 Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia at the foot of the Malé Karpaty Mts. sitting on both banks of the river Danube. It is a mainRead more

MUSE pilot area activities – RESULTS – #9 Vienna

Identifying underground urban heat islands in Vienna using groundwater temperature measurements C. Steiner (GBA), 18 August 2021 Field measurements for MUSE in the pilot area Vienna focused on the shallow groundwater body, which consists of gravelly river sediments, on theRead more

Joint MUSE – GEOCOND webinar “Novel approaches in shallow geothermal resource mapping”

G. Goetzl, 5 August 2021 On May 10th 2021, GeoERA MUSE organized a webinar in cooperation with the EU Horizon 2020 project GEOCOND on shallow geothermal resource mapping. Mapping shallow geothermal resources is an important but still challenging exercise whenRead more

MUSE pilot area activities – RESULTS – #8 Glasgow

Glasgow Observatory – A promising research and innovation location for geothermal energy with shallow mine water A. Monaghan, K. Shorter and D. Boon (BGS), 4 August 2021 Glasgow is Scotland’s largest city and has a post-industrial landscape with a richRead more

MUSE pilot area activities – RESULTS – #7 Cardiff

City-scale groundwater temperature characterisation to support the development of shallow geothermal energy A. M. Patton (BGS), 27 July 2021 In 2014, BGS carried out temperature depth profiling at 169 groundwater monitoring boreholes across Cardiff, U.K., to characterise groundwater temperatures atRead more

MUSE pilot area activities – RESULTS – #6 Zagreb

Results of groundwater heat exchanger monitoring in the urbanized area of the city of Zagreb S. Borovic (HGI-CGS), 19 July 2021 Zagreb, as other large urban areas, has significant heating and cooling demand, and it is clear that many investorsRead more

MUSE pilot area activities – RESULTS – #5 Girona

Subsoil characterization in the urban area for the evaluation of the shallow geothermal potential Vaiva Cypaite, Víctor Camps, Ariadna Conesa, Georgina Arnó, and Ignasi Herms (ICGC), 2 July 2021 Between 2019 and 2021 in the urban area of Girona extensiveRead more

MUSE pilot area activities – RESULTS – #4 Aarhus

Mapping potential sites for shallow geothermal energy and energy storage, -a desktop study from Aarhus (Denmark) Claus Ditlefsen (GEUS), 22 June 2021 The municipality of Aarhus consists of a large fast-growing urban area surrounded by open land with suburbs andRead more

MUSE pilot area activities – RESULTS – #3 Zaragoza

Defining the exploitation patterns of groundwater heat exchanger systems in Zaragoza city pilot area (Spain) Alejandro García Gil (IGME-CSIC), 31 May 2021 Within the MUSE project activities in the pilot area of Zaragoza city, we have collected information from 27Read more

New MUSE leaflet about shallow geothermal energy published

Cornelia Steiner (GBA), 6 May 2021 Have you ever wondered how one can actually use shallow geothermal energy? We explain the different systems available for heating and cooling with these renewable energy sources. Find out how they work and whatRead more

MUSE pilot area activities – RESULTS – #2 Linköping

Multidiciplinary field measurements for a High Temperature Energy Storage site (HT-BTES) at Linköping Sweden Mikael Erlstroem (SGU), 22 April 2021 The heat storage at Linköping aims to shift around 50 MWh excess heat from a waste incineration plant during theRead more

Hungary’s first interactive geothermal information platform (“OGRe”) is publicly available in English

Hungary’s first interactive geothermal information platform (“OGRe”) is publicly available in English

This post is part of the GeoConnect³d blog The Hungarian Geothermal System (OGRe) aims to provide up-to-date and reliable geological, hydrogeological and geophysical data and information about Hungary’s geothermal energy resources via a user-friendly and publicly accessible site. We hopeRead more

MUSE pilot area activities – RESULTS – #1 Ljubljana

Eventful hydrogeological investigations Mitja Janza (GeoZS), 25 March 2021 Goals and results of the field measurements Aim of the hydrogeological investigations was to estimate the geothermal potential of the open-loop system that is planned for the heating of a primaryRead more

Land subsidence as a consequence of artificial uncontrolled leaching of salt layers and forming of lakes “Pannonica” in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Land subsidence as a consequence of artificial uncontrolled leaching of salt layers and forming of lakes “Pannonica” in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina

This post is part of the GeoConnect³d blog. Introduction The Pannonian Basin covers approximately 20% of the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina. There are several sub-basins within this regional basin; one of them is the Tuzla Basin, which is locatedRead more

Brand-new MUSE results: Fact sheets on shallow geothermal energy concepts

Ignasi Herms (ICGC) and Cornelia Steiner (GBA), 2 February 2021 Shallow geothermal energy is a renewable energy source recognized by the European Parliament in its DE 2009/28/CE and DE 2003/54/CE directives. It is a reliable and efficient technology that canRead more

Explore the new MUSE YouTube channel

Gregor Goetzl (GBA), 12 January 2020 MUSE launched its new YouTube channel! It delivers interesting facts between the lines and views linked to shallow geothermal energy and to our MUSE project in easy accessible video formats. In the first talkRead more

MUSE co-organized the Shallow Geothermal Days 2020

Gregor Goetzl (GBA), 15 December 2020 For the second time, the European Geothermal Energy Council (EGEC) organized the Shallow Geothermal Energy Days policy and research event in cooperation with RHC-ETIP, Geotrainet, the COST Action Geothermal-DHC and the MUSE project. TheRead more

MUSE – Monitoring Closed-loop systems and Open-loop systems

David Boon (BGS) and Ignasi Herms (ICGC), 11 December 2020 Monitoring heat pump performance The complete instrumentation and long-term performance measurement of ground source heating and cooling systems is key for evaluating their real-world energy performance, running costs and CO2Read more

MUSE – Geothermal heat pumps, a highly dynamic market in Europe!

Gregor Goetzl, 26 November 2020 Heat pumps in Europe: Heat pumps, used for domestic heating, were introduced in the late 1970s to the European market. After decades of slow growth rates, heat pump sales have been experiencing a strong increaseRead more

MUSE and the underground urban heat island effect

Cornelia Steiner, 21 October 2020 The project MUSE deals with managing urban shallow geothermal energy in urban areas. It investigates resources of shallow geothermal energy in 14 pilot area cities in Europe. Knowledge about the temperature regime of the undergroundRead more

MUSE – Open-loop systems requirements & advantages

Radovan Cernak, 5 October 2020 Groundwater is a valuable natural source especially for drinking water. Additionally, using ground water for energy extraction is common in many countries for both heating and cooling. In general, these so called open-loop systems areRead more

MUSE – Web-based information systems for shallow geothermal energy

Mitja Janza, 28 September 2020 Geoscientific information is of fundamental importance for efficient and sustainable use of shallow geothermal energy. Lack of such information hinders implementation of shallow geothermal systems and increase uncertainty for investments in such systems. Web-based informationRead more

MUSE – Closed-loop systems requirements & advantages

Estelle Petitclerc, 4 September 2020 Applications of shallow geothermal energy either use closed-loop or open-loop systems. Here we explain the requirements and advantages of closed-loop systems and in follow-up blog we dive into open-loop systems. In closed-loop systems a heatRead more

MUSE results published in Energy Policy

Alejandro Garcia Gil, 4 August 2020 A novel governance model of shallow geothermal energy resources proposed by MUSE The Geological Survey of Spain published, together with 13 European Geological Surveys, a governance model for shallow geothermal energy resources in theRead more

MUSE – Differences between deep and shallow geothermal energy

Gregor Goetzl, 22 July 2020 The term geothermal energy covers a wide field of applications at different depth and temperature levels or based on different technologies to extract geothermal heat. Although all kind of geothermal energy originates in the Earth’sRead more

Legal framework, procedures and policies of shallow geothermal energy use in the EU and MUSE partner countries

Maciej Klonowski, 7 July 2020 One of the major goals of the MUSE project was to investigate and assess the policies and regulatory instruments dealing with the management of shallow geothermal energy in urban areas adapted on the level ofRead more

Pilot area activities – #14 Assessment of shallow geothermal energy resources in Warsaw agglomeration, Poland

Maciej Klonowski, 28 May 2020 Measurements of thermal properties of soils and rocks and geophysical investigations The Polish Geological Institute – National Research Institute (PIG-PIB) carried out a campaign of field investigations to assess geological and hydrogeological conditions and toRead more

Pilot area activities – #13 Geophysical survey and groundwater monitoring in Brussels, Belgium

Estelle Petitclerc, 8 May 2020 Resource analysis and investigation of interactions between open loop systems The Brussels Capital Region (BCR), with an area about 161 km², has a Cenozoic soft cover where sandy formations and relatively more impermeable clayey layersRead more

MUSE at “EGU2020: Sharing Geoscience Online” – Free online geoscience conference

Cornelia Steiner, 27 April 2020 The General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union (EGU) is Europe’s largest geoscience conference. More than 15 000 scientists come together from all over the world to present and discuss the latest research topics at this annualRead more

Pilot area activities – #12 Thermal groundwater use in the urbanized area of Zagreb, Croatia

Stasa Borovic, 14 April 2020 Groundwater temperature monitoring of two open loop systems Zagreb is the capital of Croatia, and by far the largest urban agglomeration in the country (≈800 000 inhabitants). The city area can be divided into alluvialRead more

Pilot area activities – #11 Groundwater monitoring in Bratislava, Slovakia

Radovan Cernak, 30 March 2020 Installation of new monitoring network to assess shallow geothermal energy resources in a highly urbanized area Bratislava is nowadays a rapidly developing city with growing demands on energy for heating as well as cooling of buildings.Read more

Pilot area activities – #10 Hydrogeological characterisation of abandoned mine workings for low-enthalpy geothermal in Glasgow, Scotland

Kirsty Shorter, 17 March 2020 Drilling, installation and testing of 12 boreholes The British Geological Survey is currently constructing a geoenergy observatory in Glasgow, Scotland to provide an underground research facility to study abandoned mine water geothermal heating and cooling.Read more

Pilot area activities – #9 Geological and Hydrogeological surveys in Cardiff, UK

David Boon, 2 March 2020 Field surveys for promoting sustainable geothermal energy use The decarbonisation of urban heating using ground source heat pumps will require significant deployments of shallow geothermal technologies including vertical closed loop (borehole heat exchangers) and openRead more

Pilot area activities – #8 Hydrogeological and geothermal surveys in Ljubljana, Slovenia

Mitja Janza, 18 February 2020 Installation of new monitoring networks to assess shallow geothermal energy resources Geological Survey of Slovenia (GeoZS) has established continuous measurements of groundwater level, temperature and electrical conductivity in 15 observation wells in the area ofRead more

Meet the Scientist #9 – Natalija Samardžić

Natalija Samardžić is a hydrogeologist and geothermal energy expert at the Geological Survey of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Federalni zavod za geologiju – FZZG). She works as Advisor for hydrogeology, with 16 years of experience in hydrogeological research ofRead more

Pilot area activities – #7 New construction of a shallow geothermal installation in Prague, Czech Republic

Jaroslav Rihosek, 5 February 2020 How to build a borehole heat exchanger for a single family house The Czech Geological Survey documented the construction process of a shallow geothermal installation in Slivenec municipal district of Prague in January 2020. OwnersRead more

Pilot area activities – #6 Groundwater monitoring in Girona, Catalonia, Spain

Ignasi Herms, 23 January 2020 Installation of new monitoring networks to assess shallow geothermal energy resources   Shallow geothermal energy for heating and cooling in Catalonia has been growing fast for the last 5 years. The city of Girona (NERead more

Pilot area activities – #5 Geothermal data analysis in Aarhus, Denmark

Claus Ditlefson, 7 January 2020 Screening the possibilities to integrate shallow geothermal energy and energy storage in a mature district heating system In the city of Aarhus heat is supplied by a well-developed district heating system from a number ofRead more

Pilot area activities – #4 Geothermal data collection in Cork City, Ireland

Taly Hunter Williams, 19 December 2019 Gathering geochemical and temperature measurements from aquifers in Cork City with the aim to identify potential shallow geothermal energy resources Geological Survey Ireland conducted a groundwater investigation in Cork City (25-28 November 2019) toRead more

Cross-thematic publications

Van Gessel, S.F., Hinsby, K., Stanley, G., Tulstrup, J., Schavemaker, Y., Piessens, K., Bogaard, PJF (2017). Geological Services towards a Sustainable Use and Management of the Subsurface: A Geoethical Imperative. Annals of Geophysics, 60, 7, DOI: 10.4401/AG-7500. https://www.annalsofgeophysics.eu/index.php/annals/article/download/7500/6869

Spectacular creatures in a poisonous sulphidic atmosphere – Movile cave, Romania – 5.5 million years time capsule

Only 240 m length and 12.000 square meters, but an epochal discovery made in 1986 in the south-eastern part of Romania by the Romanian researcher Cristian Lascu (geologist, speleologist and photographer). Some geodesic studies for the location of a thermalRead more