oa Developing Engineered Geothermal Systems (EGS) in Alberta, Canada

The extraction of hydrocarbon, minerals, or geothermal resources requires extensive subsurface characterization. This process balances both locating the highest concentrations of the resource and assessing where there is a demand for those resources. In the context of the geothermal exploration being undertaken by Helmholtz Alberta Initiative (HAI), this requires that heat sources for heavy oil and bitumen production are found close to the deposits. This focuses exploration on the regions of the largest oilsand and heavy oil deposits around Lloydminster, Cold Lake, Peace River, and Fort McMurray in Alberta province, Canada (ERCB, 2010; Hein, 2006). In addition, bitumen production from the Grosmont carbonate trend (Schmitt, 2011a; b) that lies about 100 km to the west of Fort McMurray may also require large amounts of thermal energy. In all of the above applications, the geothermal energy has the potential to greatly reduce the environmental footprint of oilsand extraction. This occurs by generating heat with geothermal plants, and not burning natural gas. Heavy oil production is not the only potential consumer of energy in Northern and Central Alberta. The forestry industry also uses large amounts of thermal energy in the production of paper. Further, there are numerous isolated First Nations communities who could use geothermal energy to replace the expensive practice of transporting fuel for generators.