A Programmatic View of Geothermal Reservoir Engineering

Abstract

National Science Foundation Washington, D. C. 20550 I will make my remarks brief in the interest of getting on with the scientific subject of this workshop, which I like to regard as the science of geothermal reservoirs. To be more specific, we are not concerned here with the science or technology of how to find and how to assess the energy potential of these reservoirs ( albeit impossible to make a clean separation between the related technologies); but rather our purpose is to focus on the behavior of reservoirs under the stimulus of production and commercial extraction of heat.

At NSF we feel this is a highly opportune moment to convene such a group as this. Many research and development efforts are now underway in this area, and many have reached that point where significant results have been achieved and where new data and new questions are being generated at a rapid pace. ( In a moment I will review the recent history of how many of these efforts were initiated through the NSF Geothermal Program.)