Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Indonesia: The Geothermal Capacity Building Programme in the Field

Producing geothermal energy in Indonesia (GEOCAP)

Tulus Imaro (master student TUD), Fiorenza Deon (TUD), Famelia Nurlaela (PhD candidate ITB) and Astiasari (PhD candidate UT-UGM). The field purpose was to collect samples for the geomechanical experiments to be performed at TUD. Photo by Tulus Imaro
Her fieldwork takes geologist Fiorenza Deon to remote areas in Indonesia and it wasn’t long before she learned the language, a skill she needs to be able to negotiate with the local authorities. Her geologic research forms part of GEOCAP, an international collaboration between the governments of Indonesia and the Netherlands, companies and universities aimed at exploring the use of geothermal energy. But GEOCAP is about more than just scientific research, underlines Deon. “Bilateral cooperation offers huge advantages to all parties.”

The main aim of this research programme, which consists of several projects, is to develop and improve the production of geothermal power, using the heat from the earth  to generate electricity. For Indonesia, a country dominated by volcanoes, it’s a renewable energy source that holds enormous potential.