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Geothermal energy is simply the natural heat that exists within our planet. The potential for harnessing electricity and heat from geothermal energy has long been recognised in Iceland, Hungary and New Zealand (Shere, 2013). Geothermal power has considerable potential for growth. The amount of heat within 10,000 m of the earth’s surface is estimated to contain 50,000 times more energy than all oil and gas resources worldwide (Shere, 2013).
The most challenging aspect of geothermal exploration is the quantification of subsurface temperature conditions. Actual temperature conditions often remain very uncertain as it is difficult to remotely measure through several hundreds of metres of solid rock. Only drilling through the rock layers will give information on the existing subsurface temperature. As drilling is very expensive (€1million to €15million), any low-cost pre-drilling temperature estimation can bring in huge added value. Electromagnetic (EM) technology that Doel & Stove (2016) has been developing and experimenting aims to find subsurface sources of geothermal heat prior to drilling.
Through empirical field experimentation, EM technology would appear to non-invasively and digitally provide a temperature proxy measurement of the subsurface without physical drilling the Earth’s crust. Although not everything is known about the technology’s capabilities, EM technology shows strong promise. Key aspects of the technology have been field tested, including depth and capacity to identify water. Even at this early stage of development, EM technology merits further investigation to enable efficient and optimal exploration of the natural resources useful for geothermal energy generation.