Applications of Basin Modelling for the Energy Transition Subsurface Challenges

Geosciences have a fundamental role to play searching for new renewable and sustainable sources of energy in the underground and helping to reduce carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere. The oil industry has long been a powerful engine of technical innovation. The numerical tools developed and applied over decades will now help to reduce certain environmental problems resulting from human activities. Among these technologies, basin modelling can help derisking and better understanding the subsurface processes related to the Energy Transition, being a catalyst in the decision-making process to maximize investment profits and avoid risk-related costs.

The physics embedded in the current sophisticated basin models constitute a solid base for further geological investigations, since the same theory is flexible and applicable to all geological processes independent of their final purpose of investigation.

This paper presents three different applications where basin modelling plays an important role to address some of today’s challenges in Energy Transition: 1) heat energy resource assessment through deep geothermal system modelling, 2) saline aquifer carbon storage potential screening, and 3) natural hydrogen play analysis. We will see how large-scale and long-term geological modelling helps in the characterization of prospective areas, presenting present-day technologies, and discussing possibles future evolutions.