INGV meeting on Georesources - Abstract Volume

Abstract

On February 14th, 2023, INGV-­Rome hosted a working day focused on studies, led by INGV researchers, having as the main topic the geo­resources. The geo­resources and more in general, the geo­energy themes, have partcular importance considering the contnuous increase in the global energy demand and the urgent need to devise strategic energy plans to promote low­carbon technologies and energy independence of the Countries.
Furthermore, the current global geopolitcal context and the potental long­term impacts of the Russia­Ukraine conflict pose a threat to the energy supply of numerous countries that rely heavily on fossil fuels, such as Italy. In this framework, the substantal increase in the use of renewable energy sources, such as geothermal, wind, hydro, and solar energies represents a mandatory choice that needs to be encouraged; as well as the approach to new exploraton fronters, as the hydrogen, and new­unconventonal exploitaton techniques, for example, for raw­strategic materials.
On the other hand, addressing climate change is a top priority and requires immediate acton. In this framework, the industrial technologies that can decrease CO2 emissions must be implemented without delay to eventually eliminate them.
The presented context, which is also highlighted in the United Natons Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and formally supported also by INGV, emphasizes the crucial role of Geoscientsts in the field of georesources. Their contributon will be crucial in addressing society’s future challenges, ensuring the availability of vital resources, providing access to clean and sustainable water supplies, sourcing and extractng critcal minerals for green technologies, understanding the subsurface potental for geothermal energy exploitaton, developing safe carbon capture and storage infrastructure and technologies, mitgatng climate change, and influencing government policies by comprehending past climates, modeling potental future outcomes, and understanding climate impacts on the environment, likelihoods, and natural hazards (see Fig. 1).
In this context, the “INGV­Georesource Day” assumes a partcular relevance by putng together geoscientsts with expertse in this sector and creatng a moment of knowledge sharing and discussion.
The day was divided into four thematc sessions: i) Carbon Capture, Usage, and Storage ­ CCUS (abstracts n.1­4), ii) Geothermics (5­9), iii) Fracturing and seismicity (10­13), iv) Government Assignment (14­15). Two additonal presentatons were added, one relatve to natural hydrogen research and the other on water supply in small Italian islands (16­17).
During the day, ongoing projects and completed ones were presented, by passing through the global overview of CCUS and the Italian geothermal potental and then focusing on dedicated projects and specific investgaton approaches such as structural­geological field surveys and geological modeling, survey geophysical methods useful for geothermal exploraton, fluid geochemistry, and numerical geochemical modeling. Potental synergies and useful inputs have been offered by the presentatons focused on the anthropogenic seismicity associated with the exploitaton of georesources, in the framework of the EPOS web­portal. Moreover, in the framework of the ERC­FEAR project (Fault Actvaton and Earthquake Rupture), the role of the fluid injecton at depth and the pore­pressure variatons has been described to beter understand natural and induced/triggered earthquake nucleaton.