The Division of Environmental Geosciences invites you to join our Geothermal Discussion Group!
About the Group
This group arose from the Geothermal Energy Basics class (GEBC), which has been offered and administrated by Carlo Dietl for AAPG during the past ten years.
The Geothermal Discussion Group (GDG) was first a Q&A group of the GEBC. With time, the group grew as course alumni were still curious to discuss with new course participants and others. This has created a quite mixed and lively discussion group that eventually opened up to all of AAPG via a LinkedIn page created by David Pickering, one of the most active members of the group.
The discussed topics have shifted from general geothermal topics inspired directly by GEBC toward more practical topics such as the realization of geothermal projects, legal and administrative aspects of projects, or questions of public participation and fund raising. Networking also became more and more important.
This year’s highlights included talks by Peter Schürch (exploration methods in geothermal projects with a focus on Switzerland), Rodney Garrard (exploration and prospecting risks), Peter Achtziger (natural hydrogen), Stephanie Hurst (geothermal projects in Thuringia, Germany), and, more recently, Oliver Heidbach (stress data, geomechanical models and their meaning for geothermal projects).
Currently, members of GDG mainly come from Europe and Australia, but there is also a strong presence out of Houston, Texas and one participant from Japan.
How to Join
The GDG holds Zoom meetings once monthly, usually on the third Thursday of the month. They take place at times which are convenient for participants from one hemisphere, namely at 8 a.m., 4 p.m., or 11 p.m. CST.
GDG is open to anyone interested in the subject matter!
To be added to the group’s email list for meeting details, email Carlo Dietl at carlodietl@yahoo.de.