KNAW anticipation grant for research into geothermal energy

Anita Trisiah and Gerdien de Vries are part of a consortium that will foster scientific long-term collaboration in the field of geothermal energy between Indonesia and the Netherlands both from technical and social perspectives with a KNAW anticipation grant. The MiMo (Misi Monitoring) project has the aim to result in a profound research plan for under-exploited potentials of geothermal energy in both countries. By developing geothermal energy, the need to provide clean and sustainable energy can be fulfilled. 

Potential of geothermal energy

Indonesia and the Netherlands have similar  - but also different - challenges regarding geothermal energy. Indonesia has a huge potential resource of geothermal energy with 40% of world supply, yet only about 4.2% has been explored. Similarly, in the Netherlands, the estimated potential is 1000 petajoules of viable geothermal heat per year with the installed capacity is only 3 petajoules so far. Due to these high, yet under-exploited potentials, the situation in both countries is calling for intense geothermal project development. Technical arguments, financial challenges and political reasons are the roadblocks for this minor development. Nevertheless, social acceptance has become another dominant hurdle for the development of geothermal energy, especially in Indonesia.

TPM researchers Anita Trisiah, supervised by Hans de Bruijn, and Gerdien de Vries, will take part in the social aspect of this project and will be investigate how stakeholders perceive geothermal energy and how the framing of geothermal energy in (public) communication and media influences public and political perception. Colleagues from the CEG faculty and University of Twente will be responsible for the technical aspects.