In New York State and Pennsylvania, USA, Precambrian metamorphic and intrusive rocks and Cambrian to Lower Ordovician sedimentary rocks are reservoir targets for deep direct-use geothermal development. Evaluation of natural fractures and structures in the potential reservoir units at the Cornell University Borehole Observatory site was conducted through cross-scale evaluation of oriented sidewall cores, borehole image (BHI), and far-field acoustic survey data. Oriented sidewall cores in the basement complex (Cayuta Formation) reveal metasediments containing foliations, lineations, mineral-filled fractures, and breccia intervals. Basement sidewall core fracture data aid identification of fractures in BHI surveys riddled with borehole breakouts. In contrast, sidewall and image log data for the Cambrian-Ordovician sedimentary section show that open fractures are present and allow orientation and abundance to be estimated. At various depths sandstone and dolostone sidewall cores contain quartz-filled or carbonate-filled bed-normal and -parallel microfractures. Four subvertical microfracture sets, formed sequentially, strike NW-SE (F1), NE-SW (F2), N-S (F3), and WSW-ENE (F4). Microfracture set orientations F1, F2, and F4 match interpretations of acoustic fracture anomalies (open fractures) located tens of meters from the wellbore. In the uppermost Galway Formation sandstone, common microfracture apertures are 0.001 to 0.01 mm. The widest microfractures transition to quartz-lined and bridged open macrofractures. An open vertical macrofracture in Galway sandstone is observed in BHI surveys and a sidewall core, effectively ground-truthing the F4 fracture set. Based on comparison of core fractures with borehole image survey features, differentiation of natural from drilling-induced fractures reveals three sedimentary rock zones of elevated natural fracture frequency.

To enable reliable exploration strategies for geothermal energy that have inherently lower economic and technical risks and hence increase public support, the multi-national, multi-disciplinary, and publicly funded FindHeat project is developing a novel, conceptual model-based geothermal exploration workflow. This workflow specifically focuses on faster turnaround times for exploration and appraisal of geothermal resources, making better use of legacy data and non-invasive geophysical techniques, and constraining uncertainties with respect to the size of the heat source and the range of possible heat production rates. Comprehensive social science research complements the technical work to set the foundation for new communication strategies that allow geothermal operators to earn the public trust that improved geothermal exploration and appraisal will lead to a more efficient and sustainable exploitation of geothermal energy. The workflow is being tested and validated at eight geologically diverse geothermal plays situated in Iceland, France, UK, Spain, and Netherlands, which allows us to demonstrate its economic and technical benefits as well as its societal impact.

High technical and economic risks stemming from the lack of detailed knowledge of the subsurface hold back large-scale investments in geothermal energy. In a survey conducted on nine use cases from diverse geological settings across Europe and with different purposes (electricity/heating and cooling) and project objectives (scientific/commercial), we identify the “common practice” and the aspiration for the “state of the art” in geothermal exploration. For each use case, the survey investigates what workflows have been adopted and what data acquired by which methods at different stages of exploration. This provided a benchmark for exploration in a range geothermal play types. The survey shows that this industry-standard base-case can be adapted to improve exploration success and efficiency by (1) applying numerical modelling in early stages of exploration to guide strategic data collection, (2) novel application of innovative technologies and (3) closer integration of software tools for static geological interpretation and dynamic heat flow simulation.