Vulcões ativos na Antártica contrastam com a paisagem predominantemente gelada do continente. Eles fornecem condições únicas capazes de selecionar uma grande variedade de adaptações microbianas. A Ilha Deception localiza-se na região da Península Antártica e difere de outros vulcões antárticos especialmente pela influência marinha e temperaturas mais elevadas. Foram coletadas amostras de sedimentos associados a fumarolas e geleiras em dois sítios geotermais de Deception, com temperaturas variando entre 0°C a 98°C. Diferentes técnicas independentes de cultivo foram empregadas com o intuito de entender como as comunidades microbianas respondem as variações ambientais extremas produzidas pela atividade vulcânica. Os resultados indicaram que a co-ocorrência de arqueias hipertermófilas e suas adaptações com micro-organismos metabolicamente diversos adaptados a regiões geladas representa uma estrutura de comunidades única para ecossistemas antárticos. Este trabalho forneceu dados ineditos sobre questoes centrais de diversidade e adaptacao microbiana a ambientes geotermais polares. / Active volcanoes in Antarctica contrast with the predominately icy landscape. They harbor unique conditions capable to select an extreme range of microbial adaptations. Deception Island is located in the Antarctic Peninsula region and differs from other Antarctic volcanoes specially by its higher temperatures and marine influence. We collected sediment samples associated to active fumaroles and glaciers on two geothermal sites of Deception Island, with temperatures ranging from 0°C to 98°C. Different cultivation-indepedent techniques were used to understand how microbial communities respond to extreme environmental variations produced by volcanic activity. The results indicate that co-occurrence of hyperthermophiles and their specific adaptations with metabolically diverse cold-adapted micro-organisms represents a unique community structure for antarctic ecosystems. This study provided primordial data on central questions about microbial diversity and adaptation to polar geothermal environments.

In the context of energy transition, geothermics play an important role for the heating and cooling supply of both residential and commercial buildings. Thereby, the increasingly and intensive utilisation of shallow geothermal resources bears the risk of over-exploitation and thus poses a future challenge to ensure the sustainability and safety of such systems. Particularly, the well-established technology of borehole heat exchanger-coupled ground source heat pumps is applied for the thermal exploitation of the shallow subsurface. Due to the complexity of the involved physical processes, numerical modelling proves to be a powerful tool to enhance process understanding as well as to aid the planning and design processes. Simulations can also support the management of thermal subsurface resources, planning and decision-making on city and regional scales. In this work, the so-called dual-continuum approach was adopted and enhanced to develop a coupled numerical model considering flow and heat transport processes in both the subsurface and borehole heat exchangers as well as the heat pumps’ performance characteristics, and including the relevant phenomena influencing the underlying processes. Beside the temperature fields, the efficiency and thus the consumption of electrical energy by the heat pump is computed, allowing for the quantification of operational costs and equivalent carbon-dioxide emissions. The model is validated and applied to a number of numerical studies. First, a comprehensive sensitivity analysis on the efficiency and sustainability of such systems is performed. Second, a method for the quantification of technically extractable shallow geothermal energy is proposed. This procedure is demonstrated by means of a case study for the city of Cologne, Germany and its implications are discussed. / Im Rahmen der Energiewende nimmt die Geothermie eine besondere Rolle in der thermische Gebäudeversorgung ein. Die zunehmende, intensive Nutzung oberflächennaher geothermischer Ressourcen erhöht die Gefahr der übermäßigen thermischen Ausbeutung des Untergrundes und stellt damit eine wachsende Herausforderung für die Nachhaltigkeit und Sicherheit solcher Systeme dar. Zur Erschließung oberflächennaher geothermischer Energie wird insbesondere die etablierte Technologie Erdwärmesonden-gekoppelter Wärmepumpen eingesetzt. Aufgrund der daran beteiligten komplexen physikalischen Prozesse erweisen sich numerische Modelle als leistungsfähiges Werkzeug zur Erweiterung des Prozessverständnisses und Unterstützung des Planungs- und Auslegungsprozesses. Zudem können Simulationen zum Management thermischer Ressourcen im Untergrund sowie zur Planung und politischen Entscheidungsfindung auf städtischen und regionalen Maßstäben beitragen. Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit wurde, basierend auf dem sogenannten ”dual-continuum approach” und unter Berücksichtigung des Einflusses der Wärmepumpe, ein erweitertes gekoppeltes numerisches Modell zur Abbildung der in Erdwärmesonden und dem Untergrund stattfindenden Strömungs- und Wärmetransportprozesse entwickelt. Das Modell ist in der Lage, alle relevanten Einflussfaktoren zu berücksichtigen. Neben den Temperaturfeldern im Untergrund und der Erdwärmesonde werden die Effizienz und damit der Stromverbrauch der Wärmepumpe simuliert. Damit können sowohl die Betriebskosten als auch der äquivalente CO 2 -Ausstoß abgeschätzt werden. Das Modell wurde validiert und in einer Reihe numerischer Studien eingesetzt. Zuerst wurde eine umfassende Sensitivitätsanalyse zur Effizienz und Nachhaltigkeit entsprechender Anlagen durchgeführt. Weiterhin wird ein Verfahren zur Quantifizierung des technisch nutzbaren, oberflächennahen geothermischen Potentials vorgestellt und anhand einer Fallstudie für die Stadt Köln demonstriert, gefolgt von einer Diskussion der Ergebnisse.

Les géostructures énergétiques consistent à établir un échange thermique direct avec le sol grâce à des systèmes intégrés dans les fondations ou les structures géotechniques. L’incorporation des échangeurs de chaleur aux géostructures provoque une variation cyclique de la température du sol adjacent. Des questions se posent sur l'impact de ces variations thermiques sur les paramètres géotechniques des sols en général, et en particulier des sols sensibles argileux. L’objectif de cette thèse est d’améliorer la compréhension et la quantification de l’impact de la variation de la température sur la capacité portante des pieux géothermiques. Actuellement, le dimensionnement des capacités portantes des fondations profondes est basé sur les résultats d’essais pénétrométriques ou pressiométriques. Des méthodes expérimentales ont été développées afin de permettre la réalisation de ces essais dans les conditions du laboratoire. Des essais mini-pénétrométriques sont réalisés sur des éprouvettes compactées à différents états initiaux et soumises à des températures variant de 1 à 70 °C. Les résultats montrent une évolution sensible des paramètres étudiés, la résistance en pointe (qc) et le frottement latéral (fs), pour un matériau illitique, lorsqu’il est compacté du côté sec de l’optimum. Les essais mini-pressiométriques, réalisés sur des massifs de sol illitique compactés en modèle réduit d’échelle métrique dans une cuve thermo-régulée, ont montré une diminution de la pression de fluage (pf) et de la pression limite (pl) avec l’augmentation de la température, tandis que la variation du module pressiométrique (EM) est moins marquée. Les résultats montrent une quasi-réversibilité des effets d’un cycle de chauffage dans la gamme de température testée alors que l’effet d’un cycle de refroidissement n’est que partiellement réversible. Pour les essais soumis à plusieurs cycles thermiques, le premier cycle induit des variations de paramètres toujours plus importantes que les cycles suivants. Une analyse approfondie de l’évolution des propriétés thermiques (la conductivité thermique (λ), la capacité thermique volumique (Cv) et la diffusivité thermique (D)) des sols en fonction de la teneur en eau, de la masse volumique sèche et de la température montre une augmentation de ces paramètres avec l’augmentation de w et ρd et une augmentation de λ des éprouvettes illitiques du côté sec de l’optimum avec l’augmentation de la température de 1 à 70 °C. En résumé, pour les pieux énergétiques, les résultats obtenus en laboratoire montrent une modification de la capacité portante due à la variation des paramètres du sol illitique sous l’effet des cycles thermiques / Energy geostructures involve providing a direct heat exchange with the ground through integrated systems in the foundations or geotechnical structures. The incorporation of heat exchangers in geostructures produces a cyclic variation of the temperature in the adjacent soil. Therefore, there are important scientific questions about the effect of temperature variations on hydro-mechanical soil parameters in general, and particularly for sensitive clay soils. The main objective of this thesis is to improve the understanding and the quantification of the impact of temperature variation on the bearing capacity of geothermal piles. Currently, the design of the bearing capacity of deep foundations is based on the results of in situ penetrometer and pressuremeter tests. Herein, experimental methods are developed to carry out these tests in laboratory conditions. Mini-penetrometer tests were carried out on samples compacted at different initial states and subjected to temperature variations ranging from 1 to 70 °C. The results showed a significant change in the studied parameters: the cone resistance (qc) and the friction sleeve resistance (fs) for an illitic material compacted on the dry side of the compaction curve. Mini-pressuremeter tests performed on the same illitic compacted soil in a thermo-regulated metric scale container, showed a decrease in creep pressure (pf) and limit pressure (pl) with increasing temperature, while the variation of pressuremeter modulus (EM) is less pronounced. The results showed a quasi-reversibility of the effect of a heating cycle through the temperature range tested, while the effect of a cooling cycle was only partially reversible. In the case of several thermal cycles, the first cycle induced more important parameter variations than the subsequent cycles, and at the end of the experimentation. Further analysis of the evolution of the thermal properties (thermal conductivity (λ), heat capacity (Cv) and thermal diffusivity (D)) within heating and cooling process as a function of soil water content and dry density showed an increase of these parameters with the increase of initial values of w and ρd, and an increase of λ in the dry side of the compaction curve with increasing temperature from 1 to 70 °C. In summary, for the energy piles driven in the clay soils, some modifications in the bearing capacity have to be taken into account due to the variation of the hydro-mechanical parameters of the soil induced by thermal cycles

La connaissance des réseaux de fractures est essentielle pour comprendre la circulation des fluides dans un réservoir. Cette thèse s’appuie sur la reconnaissance du réseau de fractures naturelles qui chenalisent les circulations à l’échelle des deux forages profonds GRT-1 et GRT-2 de Rittershoffen (Alsace, France) qui ont recoupé les sédiments gréseux triasiques et le socle granitique altéré dans le cadre d’un projet industriel de géothermie. L’étude structurale de ce réseau de fractures a été réalisée à partir d’imageries de paroi acoustiques corrélées à des diagraphies géophysiques standard tandis que l’étude pétro-minéralogique se base sur les échantillons de cuttings. Les zones de fractures perméables des puits de Rittershoffen montrent une organisation asymétrique de la perméabilité. Des fractures ouvertes à l’échelle du puits semblent agir comme des drains perméables entourés de halos d’altération hydrothermale. Ces zones de fractures sont associées à des perturbations locales du profil de température dans le puits. La présence de minéraux illitiques hétérogènes pourrait être un indicateur pour prospecter les zones de circulations actuelles et passées à l’échelle des puits. Cette étude géologique permet d’évoluer vers un modèle de forage hydrothermal possédant des connexions favorables avec le réservoir sans avoir recours à des opérations de stimulation. / The knowledge of the fracture network is a key challenge to understand the fluid circulation through a reservoir. The aim of this PhD project is to investigate the natural fracture network that channelized the hydrothermal circulations into two deep wells GRT-1 and GRT-2 at Rittershoffen (Alsace, France) that intersect Triassic sandstones and altered granitic basement in the framework of an industrial geothermal project. The structural study of the fracture network was based on acoustic image logs correlated with standard geophysical logs, whereas the mineralogical study was based on cutting samples. Permeable fracture zones of wells at Rittershoffen present an asymmetrical organization of permeability. Open fractures at the borehole scale act as fluid pathways surrounded by halos of hydrothermal alteration. These fracture zones are associated with local thermal anomalies in the temperature profiles at the borehole scale. Occurrences of heterogeneous illitic minerals could be a good indicator to prospect zones of actual and past circulations at the borehole scale.

This thesis deals with the increased efficiency of photovoltaic panels (PVs) through cooling the cells by geothermal energy and water heating. Initially, a photovoltaic modeling is made proposing an equation to obtain the maximum power point considering the variations of solar radiation and cell temperature. Initially, it is proposed a PV modeling for obtaining the maximum power point (MPP) as a function of solar radiation and temperature of the cells by the PV 5-parameter model. Thus, the determination of the PV MPP, which depends only on the internal parameters, can be made with greater precision. Water circulation by a pipe that passes through the thermal reservoir is used to cool the PV. This is complemented by cooling hoses buried underground to exchange geothermal avoiding the saturation of the heat exchange between PV and water circulation, increasing the PV efficiency. After studies on the constitution of the soil, the technical characteristics of the tubes for circulating water, hydraulic pump and heat exchanger installed after PV, economic analysis and a set of two PVs were mounted with and without the heat exchangers to verify the gains in power and performance. The experiments were made with two PVs operating in MPP, proving that the MPP and the performance increase with decreasing temperature as the modeling performed. During the experiments, the underground temperature varied slightly, avoiding the heat exchange saturation. The main contributions include the PV modeling to obtain the MPP with a single iteration, the use of geothermal energy without heat pump and residential heat load reduction by use of heated water circulation in PVs. / Esta dissertação trata do aumento da eficiência de painéis fotovoltaicos (PVs) através do esfriamento das células por energia geotérmica e aquecimento de água. Inicialmente, é proposto um equacionamento para obtenção do ponto de máxima potência (MPP) de PVs em função da radiação solar e da temperatura das células, considerando o modelo PV de cinco parâmetros. Assim, a determinação do MPP, que depende somente dos parâmetros internos, pode ser feita com maior precisão. Para esfriar o PV, utilizou-se a circulação de água numa canalização que passa por reservatório térmico. Este esfriamento é complementado por mangueiras enterradas no subsolo para troca de energia geotérmica evitando a saturação da troca de calor entre PV e água de circulação, aumentando a eficiência do PV. Após estudos sobre a constituição do solo, características técnicas dos tubos para a circulação de água, bomba hidráulica e trocadores de calor instalados atrás do PV, foi feita a análise econômica e montagem de um sistema com dois PVs, sendo um deles em conjunto com os trocadores de calor e outro sem para verificar os ganhos de potência e rendimento. Experimentos foram realizados com os dois PVs operando em MPP, onde se comprova que o MPP e o rendimento aumentam com a diminuição da temperatura conforme a modelagem realizada. Durante os experimentos, o subsolo sofreu pouca variação térmica de modo a evitar a saturação da troca de calor. Dentre as principais contribuições destacam-se a modelagem para obtenção do MPP de PVs com uma única iteração, viabilização do uso de energia geotérmica sem bombeamento de calor e redução de carga térmica residencial pelo aproveitamento da água aquecida no PV.

Geothermal energy is an important source of clean and renewable energy. This project deals with the study of deep geothermal power plants for the generation of electricity. The design involves the extraction of heat from the Earth and its conversion into electricity. This is performed by allowing fluid deep into the Earth where it gets heated due to the surrounding rock. The fluid gets vaporized and returns to the surface in a heat pipe. Finally, the energy of the fluid is converted into electricity using turbine or organic rankine cycle (ORC). The main feature of the system is the employment of side channels to increase the amount of thermal energy extracted. A finite difference computer model is developed to solve the heat transport equation. The numerical model was employed to evaluate the performance of the design. The major goal was to optimize the output power as a function of parameters such as thermal diffusivity of the rock, depth of the main well, number and length of lateral channels. The sustainable lifetime of the system for a target output power of 2 MW has been calculated for deep geothermal systems with drilling depths of 8000 and 10000 meters, and a financial analysis has been performed to evaluate the economic feasibility of the system for a practical range of geothermal parameters. Results show promising an outlook for deep geothermal systems for practical applications.

The aim of this master's thesis is to create a project of a small power plant in the Czech republic, which would be powered by geothermal energy as a renewable energy source. Followed by evaluation of economic effectiveness and return of that investment. For which I use known methods for evaluation and investment decision making.

Cette thèse s’est déroulée dans le cadre du projet FONGEOSEC, qui vise à développer la filière de la géothermie profonde en France avec la conception d’un démonstrateur d’une centrale de production d’énergie géothermique dans le bassin Rhénan. Ce projet est piloté par Fonroche Géothermie, qui gère un consortium de plus de dix acteurs du milieu académique et industriel. Le financement du projet est réalisé avec participation de l’Agence de l’Environnement et de la Maîtrise de l’Énergie (ADEME). Ainsi, les travaux exposés dans ce document se sont intéressés à la caractérisation thermodynamique des fluides géothermaux (saumures chaudes contenant des gaz dissous) de la région ciblée par le projet. Il est nécessaire de déterminer la solubilité de chacun des gaz dissous dans ces saumures aux conditions de pression, température et salinité de l’exploitation géothermique. Des modèles thermodynamiques de prévision des équilibres entre phases liquide et vapeur peuvent être utilisés pour estimer ces solubilités. Néanmoins, en absence des mesures expérimentales dans les conditions de pression, température et salinité d’intérêt, pour effectuer la régression de paramètres de ces modèles, il sera difficile d’obtenir avec précision ces solubilités à partir de simulations. Ainsi, cette thèse est centrée sur l’étude expérimentale des solubilités des gaz dans des saumures représentatives des fluides du bassin Rhénan. La gamme de pression de FONGEOSEC va de 6.0 MPa à 40.0 MPa pour des températures de 333.15 K et 453.15 K. Le dispositif expérimental utilisé dans cette thèse fonctionne dans ces conditions. Les gaz dissous dans les saumures visées par le projet sont constitués essentiellement de dioxyde de carbone (CO2), puis d’azote (N2) et enfin de méthane (CH4) en plus faibles quantités. Les sels dissous dans ces fluides sont surtout du chlorure de sodium et du chlorure de calcium, à molalité de 1.2 mol NaCl-0.2 mol CaCl2.Kg H2O-1. Dans cette thèse, nous avons effectué la détermination expérimentale de la solubilité du dioxyde de carbone dans des saumures typiques du bassin Rhénan aux conditions de pression et de température du projet FONGEOSEC. Des réflexions sont proposées quant à une méthodologie d’analyse de solubilité du méthane et de l’azote dans des phases aqueuses. Nous observons aussi que dans les conditions de pression et température de fond du puits, la solubilité du dioxyde de carbone dans les saumures typiques du bassin Rhénan est la plus élevée parmi toutes les conditions caractérisées. Une étude du sating-out effect dans ces saumures est également proposée dans cette thèse. Enfin, il est remarqué que le modèle de Pitzer (Pitzer.dat sur PhreeqC) semble prédire de façon correcte nos mesures expérimentales à 333.15 K, mais il perd son efficacité à 453.15 K. Dans cette condition, le modèle E-NRTL (Simulis®) semblerait être plus approprié. / This thesis was part of the FONGEOSEC project, which aims to develop the deep geothermal energy sector in France through the the design of a geothermal power pilot plant on the Upper Rhine Graben. This project is controled by Fonroche Géothermie, which manages a consortitium of more than ten academic and industrial partners. The French Environment & Energy Management Agency (ADEME) participates at the fundings of the project.Therefore, the work exposed in this document concerns the thermodynamic characterisation of geothermal fluids (hot brines containing dissolved gases) from the target region of this project. It is thus necessary to determine the solubility of each gas dissolved in these brines at the pressure, temperature and salinity conditions of geothermal energy exploitation.Thermodynamic models that predict liquid-vapour phase equilibrium can be used to estimate these solubilities. However, if there is a lack of experimental measures on the pressure, temperature and salinity conditions of interest, it will not be possible to regress these models interaction parameters and, therefore, it will be difficult to have precise solubility results from these thermodynamic simulations. Thus, this thesis has focused on the experimental study of gas solubilities in brines representing the Upper Rhine Graben fluids. The pressure range of the FONGEOSEC project goes from 6.0 MPa to 40.0 MPa for temperatures of 333.15 K and 453.15 K. The experimental setup used on this thesis can operate at these conditions. Dissolved gases in the brines concerned by this project are mainly composed by carbon dioxyde (CO2), and then by nitrgen (N2) and methane (CH4) at lower quantitites. Dissolved salts in these fluids are basically chloride sodium and chloride calcium, at molalities of 1.2 mol NaCl-0.2 mol CaCl2.Kg H2O-1.On the scope of this thesis, we have performed the experimental determination of carbon dioxyde solubility in Upper Rhine Graben-type brines at the pressure and temperature conditions of the FONGEOSEC project. We propose a discussion about an analysis methodology for measuring nitrogen and methane solubility in aqueous phases. We also observed that at the pressure and temperature conditions found at the bottom of the production well, carbon dioxyde solubility in the Upper Rhine Graben-type brines reaches its highest value among all the conditions studied in this thesis. A salting-out effect study in these brines is also proposed in this document. Finally, it is noticed that the Pitzer model (Pitzer.dat at PhreeqC) seems to predict properly our experimental data at 333.15 K, but it is less efficient at 453.15 K. In this condition, the E-NRTL model (Simulis®) seems to be more appropriate.

The effectiveness of the heat transfer in a geothermal reservoir strongly depends on its temperature, pressure and rock type. A porous and fractured rock is essential to provide a hot fluid circulation to a geothermal power plant. Velocity anomalies in seismic tomography may relate to the location of a fluid reservoir, hydrothermal systems, and possible heat sources. However, the subsurface properties like porosity, fracture density, and fluid state (e.g liquid, gas or supercritical fluid) cannot be inferred directly using seismic tomography. The inversion of seismic data can be combined with an effective medium model (EMM) to investigate such rock and subsurface properties. In the present study, we implement an EMM involving elastic rock properties and the following descriptions of inclusions: pore porosity, fracture density, fracture aspect ratio, fracture porosity, and liquid ratio. The chosen EMM was reproduced from the work of Adelinet et al. (2011a) and Adelinet (2010). Tomographic results were inverted for the same geographic area (Krysuvik in Iceland) in order to validate our method and to confirm the presence of the supercritical fluid reservoir. We re-evaluate the assumptions and constraining parameters choice of the inverse model used in Adelinet et al. (2011a) and Adelinet (2010), in order to 1) get a better understanding of the underlying problems, 2) investigate the sensitivity of the results based on the constraining parameters, 3) produce suitable workflows, and 4) build an adaptive method for geothermal exploration in different areas. The newly implemented method found the same qualitative results in Krysuvik as Adelinet et al. (2011a). Namely, at ≈ 6.5 km depth both values of fracture density and of liquid ratio are consistent with hydraulic fracturing and a probable super-critical fluid reservoir. Afterwards, the method was applied to the Hengill volcanic complex. Fracture density and liquid ratio values similar to those observed at Krysuvik and associated to a geothermal reservoir were obtained at Hengill at the exact location of existing production sites. Our results also showed limitations of initial assumptions and could contribute to improve the method. This study could be a starting point to build a more sophisticated tool for geothermal exploration. / Idag består majoriteten av världens energiproduktion av fossilt bränsle. Naturgas, kol och olja stod tillsammans för 70% av världens energiproduktion 2010 och det ökar konstant trots nödvändigheten att minska koldioxidutsläppen. Geotermisk energi är en hållbar resurs men bidrar endast med mindre än 2% av världens energi. Det finns dock undantag, exempelvis på Island där 70% av all energi som förbrukas kommer från geotermiska resurser. Island är en seismiskt aktiv region som inkluderar diverse olika geotermiska områden med hög temperatur. På grund av detta, har det där skett mycket forskning om geotermiska resurser. Vidare information är nödvändig för att utforska potentialen av att nyttja geotermisk energi. I denna studie impementerades en metod som kombinerar seismiska hastigheter och teoretiska mekaniska egenskaper av stenar, exempelvis stenbrottsgeometri. Metoden tillåter att uttyda egenskaper under ytan, framförallt tätheten av sprickor och det fysiska tillståndet av vätskan. Dessa egenskaper kan bidra med relevant information för beslutstagande och är nödvändiga för att lyckas med borrning. En optimering av mätna och teoeriska värden var beräknad för att hitta de optimala värdena av spricktäthet och det fysiska tillståndet av vätskan. Studien fokuserar huvudsakligen på två geotermiska områden på Island, Krysuvik- och Hengill-vulkanernas områden. Resultat erhållna från Krysuvik konfimerade en möjlig superkritisk vätskereservoar på ettdjup av 5.5-6.5 kilometer. Efter att ha studerat Hengill-området, uppkom resultat på den geotermiska utvinningsplatsen men det visade även begränsningar kring metoden. Metoden behöver förbättras och anpassa sig till funktionen av området. Heterogeniteten och de komplexa egenskaperna (till exempel bergskomposition eller vätskealternering) under ytan ledde till omvärdering av antaganden gjorda i den initiala mediummodellen.

With the advances in research of the Hot Dry Rock environment and Enhanced Geothermal Systems, geothermal energy is soon going to compete with other unconventional energy resources in Europe where Germany and France are pushing the research ahead. In the Czech Republic, the geothermal exploration borehole drilled in Litoměřice in 2006 - 2007 provided information that contributed greatly to the understanding of geothermic conditions in the country. In addition to Litoměřice, two other areas have been recently subject to geothermal exploration: Semily and Liberec. These three areas have been studied in detail in this Master's thesis to assess their geothermal potential. Information on the geology of the selected areas was gathered from numerous scientific papers and reports and was compared with information from geological maps and boreholes. On the basis of this information, geological sections of the area of Litoměřice and Semily were compiled. Drill core samples from five boreholes from the geological units in the areas under investigation were collected and measured using the Lippmann & Rauen Thermal Conductivity Scanner. Thermal conductivity of geological units inferred in the basement but not intersected in the boreholes was estimated on the basis of values presented in literature. Finally,...