Acceptance of Geothermal Projects in a Critical Environment the Upper Rhine Graben

Abstract

Geothermal project development was widespread in the Upper Rhine Graben (URG) from the year 2000 on with many exploration licenses covering almost all areas of the Graben. Due to funding limitations and public opposition the development slowed down especially after the seismic events in Basel 2006/2007. Local action groups hindered the development of geothermal projects Germany especially after the Landau events in 2009. As a result, the very valuable geothermal resources of the URG are not sufficiently explored and therefore project development is far behind expectations. The research project TIGER on public acceptance in the geothermal sector showed ways to gain back the trust that was lost by the public. Projects like Trebur and the planned projects of Deutsche Erdwärme use a sophisticated dialogue process to manage acceptance und to include local knowledge into their projects.