Australia:

Old Oil Wells Serve Perth’s Geothermal Future (Science Network Western Australia)

Decades-old oil wells could hold the key to the expansion of renewable geothermal energy in Perth, according to Curtin University geologists.

They have used old data from petroleum exploration dating back to the 1960s to test the idea that hot water found in porous rocks could be a future energy source.

Until the 1980s, oil companies drilled dozens of exploration wells throughout the Perth Basin—the geological formation beneath the city.

But because they were searching for hydrocarbons, the well data contained precious little information about the other chemicals and conditions under the ground, explains Domenik Wolff-Boenisch, who led the new study.

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