Project InnerSpace and the Society of Petroleum Engineers have formed a consortium to support the US Department of Energy’s Geothermal Technologies Office (DOE GTO). The Geothermal Energy From Oil and Gas Demonstrated Engineering Project (GEODE) project aims to expand geothermal energy deployment in the US.
Information collected from this University Geothermal Capability Mapping and Analysis Request for Information (RFI) will be merged into a searchable online database powered by artificial intelligence. The data collected will include researcher expertise, experience, past work, available facilities and capabilities, and emerging interests of each lab.
Geoscience and engineering universities and National Lab Capability Analysis Working Groups will coordinate with DOE GTO to ensure optimal integration with existing resources, such as the Lab Partnering Service, and establish key performance indicators to monitor the success of the web-based database and ensure continuity beyond the GEODE program timeframe.
This database aims to better understand universities’ geothermal, oil, and gas capabilities to improve geothermal energy deployment in the US. With greater understanding, GEODE can address pain points in next-generation geothermal deployment through technology or methodology. Examples include challenges related to drilling or capital expenditure costs, high-temperature drilling tools and drilling tool reliability, thermal energy conversion efficiency, and surface modeling.
RFI Process
The coordinating group will collect RFI responses from individual respondents and analyze the data from November 2024 to January 2025 to produce a report. Some RFI respondents may be contacted for follow-up interviews. Then, using the outputs of the RFI process, GEODE will work with a developer to support the construction of a database platform. The GEODE Consortium plans for the database to be accessible by June 2025.
GEODE Request for Information