DOE funds research into geothermal well connectivity
Power lines in Los Angeles, California (source: flickr/ JMR_Photography, creative commons)
Francisco Rojas
6 Jan 2015
Matt Becker from The California State University has recieved $1 million from the US DOE to develop and research connectivity between geothermal wells and new ways to measure them.
The California State University has announced that “Matt Becker, a member of the faculty in geological sciences and the Conrey Endowed Chair of Hydrology at CSULB since 2008, has received more than $1 million in grant support over the last four years to fund research into geothermal energy”
Mr Becker believes that geothermal energy is key for future energy development. The same source states that “Becker is interested in connectivity between geothermal wells and how to measure it. “As usual in science, when you discover something new, you discover that it is hard,” said Becker. “When water flows through fractures, it doesn’t want to flow evenly. It follows channels and short circuits. You have to understand the rocks and fractures before you start putting in wells. We used ground-penetrating radar to trace how that water flows through fractures at our research site. Our next challenge is to design tests to measure connectivity so that we can work around the natural flow patterns.”
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