The DigiMon project aims to develop and demonstrate an affordable, flexible, societally embedded, and smart digital monitoring early warning system for any subsurface CO₂ storage field. The societal embeddedness level (SEL) assessment is a novel methodology which provides insight into the societal requirements for technological innovation to be deployed. The SEL assessment framework was applied in four case studies, concerning CCS development in Norway, the Netherlands, Greece, and Germany. The resulting societal embeddedness levels of CCS, on a scale of 1–4, were SEL 3 in Norway with considerable progress towards level 4, followed by the Netherlands with SEL 2 with several initiatives towards offshore demonstration projects, and then by Greece and Germany with SEL 1. The outcomes of the SEL assessments show which societal requirements have been met in current CCS developments and which ones should be improved for CCS deployment. They also show that monitoring currently is a regulatory requirement as part of permitting procedures, while it may alleviate community concerns on safety, provided that it has certain attributes. The insights from the four national case studies are further used in the DigiMon project to develop the innovative societal embedded DigiMon monitoring system.

Geothermal energy is a crucial component contributing to the development of local thermal energy systems as a carbon-neutral and reliable energy source. Insights into its availability derive from knowledge of geology, hydrogeology and the thermal regime of the subsurface. This expertise helps to locate and monitor geothermal installations as well as observe diverse aspects of natural and man-made thermal effects. Temperature measurements were performed in hydrogeological boreholes in south-western Poland using two methods, i.e., manual temperature logging and optical fibre distributed temperature sensing (OF DTS). It was assumed the water column in each borehole was under thermodynamic equilibrium with the local geothermal gradient of the subsurface, meaning rocks and aquifers. Most of the acquired results show typical patterns, with the upper part of the log depending on altitude, weather and climate as well as on seasonal temperature changes. For deeper parts, the temperature normally increases depending on the local geothermal gradient. The temperature logs for some boreholes located in urban agglomerations showed anthropogenic influence caused by the presence of infrastructure, the urban heat island effect, post-mining activities, etc. The presented research methods are suitable for applications connected with studies crucial to selecting the locations of geothermal installations and to optimize their technical parameters. The observations also help to identify zones of intensified groundwater flow, groundwater inrush into wells, fractured and fissured zones and many others.

Geothermal energy has emerged as an alternative heating source that can replace fossil energy. This mature technology is already in use all over Europe, but there are significant differences in its use between European countries. One possible explanation for this phenomenon concerns societal differences directly related to geothermal energy, the topic that is investigated in this study. The present work proposes using the societal embeddedness level (SEL) method to analyze and compare the status of non-technical factors affecting geothermal energy use in Hungary, Iceland, Norway, Poland, and Slovakia. The method considers four dimensions: environment, stakeholder involvement, policy and regulations, and markets and financial resources. Only Iceland fully covers the four dimensions by reaching all the milestones in the SEL framework. Iceland has the advantage of a long history of active use of geothermal energy for domestic use. The other countries face challenges within several of the dimensions, while the form and cause of these challenges are specific to each country. The findings illustrate that to mitigate climate change and drive the energy transition forward, both technical and societal factors related to various renewable energy sources must be assessed.

2020Park is an innovative installation in Stavanger, Norway. This installation provides heating and cooling via a ground source heat pump (GSHP). The system combines eight 220m deep boreholes, with an air to brine heat exchanger and the heat from cooling 15 square meters of thermal photovoltaic cells (PVT). The GSHP has a rated coefficient of performance ranging from 2.8 to over 4 and can deliver 120kW of water-based heating at temperatures 50-60°C.The system is designed to deliver heating and, in reverse operation, cooling to offices, a playing ground, a supermarket and some shops. Analysing measured data of one year of operation, this system shows a clear discrepancy between available heat for ground storage and required heating during cold periods. Due to the imbalance between needs, one would expect the temperature in the ground to drop and thus the temperature of the brine at the inlet of the heat pump. By using the extra heat sources, the inlet temperature to the GSHP is relatively constant and thus the system operates mostly in constant conditions yielding constant system COP. This solution is very interesting for highly efficient buildings and neighbourhood with unbalanced demands.