07.01.2011 | Potsdam: On January 6, Dr. Helge Braun, the Parliamentary State Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Research, presents the notice of approval for the second phase of the energy research project GeoEn to the project partners. The grand total for the period January 2011 to September 2013 amounts to € 5.77 million and allows the continued development of this strong research platform for sustainable energy supply. From this sum, € 2.28 million go to the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, which has the lead management of the project. The joint project GEOENERGIE - GeoEn is one of six pilot projects of the first funding phase in the BMBF program "Research Excellence and Innovation in the New German Länder." It focuses on four geoscientifically relevant core topics that deal with a climate-friendly and secure energy supply in the future: geothermal energy, shale gas (also known as unconventional gas resource), CO2 capture and transport, and finally the storage of CO2. These core topics are examined in intersecting areas of geo-energy research: reservoir exploration, reservoir development and management, and technical system components and integration.

Partners in the GeoEn alliance are the University of Potsdam (UP), the Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus (BTU) and the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences (lead management).

"In the second phase of research, the partners will continue to work across the institutes, with a research focus on geo-energy topics. This includes in particular the development of interdisciplinary methods," commented Professor Reinhard Huettl, chairman of the GFZ. “This concerns for example a holistic approach to the CO2 process chain and geophysical exploration methods, which can be used both to explore potential reservoirs for geothermal energy, CO2 and shale gas as well as to monitor them." Above all, Professor Huettl is pleased that the resource plan provides for the integration of 46 young scientists.

The project partners operate in all fields both basic research with an international high reputation and applied research with important market potential. In phase II of GeoEn these aspects will increasingly be incorporated in technology transfer concepts with the industry and medium-sized enterprises. Furthermore, innovative training concepts will be developed.