Innovative Prospecting Technologies
The expansion of conurbations and the resulting pollution of urban environments require innovative solutions, and some of these can be found under the Earth’s surface. Examples from the U.S.A., Canada and Switzerland demonstrate that it is possible to create subterranean spaces where people can live and work comfortably.
In Germany as well, urban planners and traffic engineers are already considering concrete concepts for building streets, railway lines and stations, and industrial installations underground in order to conserve precious above-ground space for human beings and the natural environment.
Underground areas are also becoming increasingly important as storage spaces and depots for refuse and materials that are hazardous to human health. In northern Germany there are already gigantic storage areas for natural gas. Because the demand for natural gas will continue to increase rapidly, more such caverns will be necessary in the future.
Underground areas also offer potential storage space for removal of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, which is harmful to the climate and is produced in large quantities during the extraction of petroleum and natural gas, for example. The CO2 can be seperated directly at the drilling platform and compressed into underground areas from which petroleum and natural gas have been extracted. Initial tests conducted off the coast of Norway have demonstrated the technical feasibility of this process.
Putting these technically sophisticated concepts into practice calls for comprehensive systematic solutions. It will be essential to develop and continually update innovative technologies for exploring and reliably evaluating the quality of underground sites, and it will be equally important to develop monitoring technologies that ensure the high quality and long-term monitoring of these underground installations. The GEOTECHNOLOGIEN research programme is helping to create the necessary conditions for these innovative developments.
