The project “EM-Hontomín” proposes to continue the development of controlled-source electromagnetic (CSEM) methods for CO2 monitoring initiated within former projects of each partner and to test/validate these methods on the Hontomín pilot injection site (Spain) were 100 kt of CO2 will be injected as of the end of 2012. The originality of this project is to be based on an international cooperation with two Spanish institutions, a) the Geomodels laboratory of the University of Barcelona (UB) and b) the CIUDEN public foundation, that is in charge of the researches on the geological storage of CO2 in Spain. In this project, the LEMAM source (galvanic source using metallic casings as long electrodes) will be further developed by BRGM. The study will be focused on dissymmetrical configurations using a single LEMAM electrode or two nearby long electrodes. In addition, the interest of a multi-frequency (0.1 Hz - 10 kHz) implementation of the method will be studied in order to try and distinguish the time-lapse response of a deep CO2 plume from that associated with a shallower accumulation that may arise from an abnormal CO2 migration through the reservoir seal. For this purpose, the L2S laboratory of Supélec will develop a 2D/3D inversion tool focused, among others, on this problem. CGGVeritas, for its part, wants to study and test specific measurement configurations using i) a Vertical Electric Source (VED), in order to maximise the CO2 response, and ii) a network of permanent, buried electrodes, in order to minimise the repetition noise. The Geomodels laboratory (UB) will perform preliminary MT measurements (natural EM signal), will participate to the CSEM surveys of the other partners and will apply borehole-to-borehole and surface-to-borehole ERT arrays. Finally, CIUDEN, which is in charge of the CO2 injection at Hontomín, will perform the drilling and the instrumentation (insulated electrodes) of the new boreholes, the logistics of the field surveys, the access to pre-existing knowledge and to specific regulations (HSE, environmental, etc).

The supply of natural aggregates in France will become an important issue over the coming decades due to the expected increase in market consumption. This is true for the building sector (inter alia due to the “Grand Paris” project and its 70,000 housing units/year by 2030) as well as for public works (inter alia due to the construction of 4,500 km of new high speed rail lines by 2030). However, faced with this expected growth, estimates made by the aggregates profession, in terms of production, seem alarmist since they announce a supply shortage. This is due to the existence of at least the following constraints: de facto constraints (urbanization, etc.), environmental constraints (decrease in alluvial production) and societal constraints (low acceptance of production activities near to residential areas due to the noise generated). In light of this increasingly critical situation, the French aggregates profession, in association with governmental and regional authorities, has invested in a policy aimed at meeting the following challenges: (1) intensifying recycling and assessing the eventuality where existing norms may evolve to make feasible the incorporation of recycled materials into concretes (which is not currently permitted), while also assessing the limits of this initiative (control of use, extra cost of the handling, etc.), (2) in order to meet the market needs not covered by the above recycling intensification process, increasing the use of natural aggregates with a low environmental impact; and (3) continuing the work aimed at making the activity as acceptable as possible to politicians and local residents. The successful implementation of the above policy requires a suitable planning tool. However, existing tools, often GIS-based, only provide decision makers with a static view of the situation, whereas management policies of the aggregates market are determined in the long term. Simulation-based tools are in this case more efficient, especially with regard to spatial decision making. The present project aims to carry out the methodological and operational implementation of this type of tool for the aggregates sector at a regional scale. The regional scale was chosen because of the current progressive transition in France from departmental quarry schemes to regional quarry schemes. The AGREGA project aims to develop a methodology and an operational simulation tool for prospective analysis of the aggregates market at the regional scale over a 30 year period. The tool aims to guide and visualize, in a spatial-temporal manner, the combination of the actions of recycling intensification (and its limitations) and that of gradual closing of alluvial quarries. The result will consist in an assessment of the prospective evolution of the market variables with integrated economic (costs, etc.), environmental (recycled quantities, etc.), geographical (location of future primary and secondary productions areas, constraint areas, etc.), geological (available substance volume, etc.) and social (activity acceptance) dimensions. The prospective simulation will be based on the multi-agent system (MAS) approach in order to represent the heterogeneity of French regions. Regarding the socio-economic analysis related to the acceptability issues, the MAS simulation will be integrated in a more global assessment based on a modelling and participatory approach, called INTEGRAAL, which aims to engage experts and stakeholders in the dialogue and decision making process. The work will firstly be applied to the Ile-de-France region and all the surrounding regions that supply it (because it is structurally deficient and must therefore import a high proportion of its consumption). The choice of Ile-de-France is also due (1) to the “Grand Paris” project (2) to the potential of marine aggregates, transportable via the river Seine, and (3) to the current status of this region as the second largest producer of recycled aggregates in France.

The GLITER project proposes an integrated and multi-scale investigation of the combined "geothermal and lithium" system in the perspective of a lithium-and-heat co-production, with an application in the deep geothermal system of the Upper Rhine Graben. From two fundamental pillars to the understanding of the system (the geodynamics of the rift and its control on the circulation of hot fluids and the geochemical investigations relating to lithium source and mobilisation), an exploration workflow based on the adaptation of the numerical tools from O&G and on multiscale modelling will be developed. This workflow will be relevant for the entire European Cenozoic Rift System, and even beyond. The close collaboration between the partners strategically gathered in the GLITER project (BRGM, IFPEN, Sorbonne University (SU), Lithium de France (LDF) and Compagnie Générale de Géophysique (CGG)) will make it possible to benefit from the knowledge and know-how of experts in the fields of energy and the community of fundamental geosciences. Indeed, SU, IFPEN, CGG and BRGM will specify the structural control on deep circulations while the experience of LDF and BRGM in mineralogy and geochemistry will allow the source of Li to be defined. The results of these first steps will be integrated into multi-scale numerical simulations of lithium mobilisation, and heat and lithium circulation in the Upper Rhine Graben (IFPEN, BRGM, CGG, LDF). For all of this work, the deployment of innovative tools such as U/Pb dating, in situ laser ablation "MC-ICP-MS", or even machine learning, associated with the application of robust O&G tools but with their original use in geothermal will contribute to significant progress in the understanding of this system. Finally, thanks to the holistic integration of knowledge and understanding acquired thanks to this workflow, GLITER will provide an overall model of the combined “geothermal and lithium” system, an unprecedented mapping of areas, where heat and lithium are sustainably available ("sweet spots"), and an adapted and tested exploration workflow.