KarboEx - Carbonate Exploration NRW - Development of a heat source for the carbon-free heat market
The reduction of greenhouse gases is already underway in Germany with the "electricity and mobility turnaround". To initiate the overdue "heat turnaround", the Institute for Mine Surveying, Mining Subsidence Engineering and Geophysics in Mining (IFM) is involved with other partners in a research project to harness the thermal energy of deep carbonate layers in NRW. The objectives are to assess potentials and - given the appropriate data situation - also to recommend further targeted exploration activities. The energy extracted in this way could be used in district or local heating networks.
Thermal energy is measurably present in the Carboniferous and Devonian carbonates. In North Rhine-Westphalia, harnessing this energy would offer an opportunity to further reduce carbon dioxide emissions. However, the state of knowledge and exploration is not sufficient to initiate a geothermal project in these geological layers. To avoid further and costly exploration, this research project will use existing data and records from coal mining. The IFM is concerned with the securing and sifting of these data and will interpret them from a geological and mine surveying point of view. The results obtained in this way will finally be visualized three-dimensionally for further investigation and presentation.
The aim is the reliable statement about existing potentials concerning the heat content as well as the control of conceivable exploration works.
Funded by the EU and EFRE.NRW the IFM cooperates with: HarbourDom (Prof. Dr. Horst Rüter), Geological Institute Aachen (Prof. Dr. Peter Kukla), DMT GmbH & Co. KG (Dr. Dirk Orlowsky), geome- con (Prof. Dr. Tobias Backers).