CRM-geothermal: Social acceptance for innovative technologies in the energy transition

AGENDA:
14:00 – Welcome and short introduction to CRM-geothermal
Speaker: Katrin Kieling, GFZ

14:15 – Presentation of SLO Guidelines
Speaker: Paul Mitchell, Levin Sources

14:30 – Community engagement best practices
Speaker: Jane Charman, GEL

14:45 – Short introduction to CEEGS
Speaker: Ricardo Chacartegui, University of Sevilla

15:00 – Social acceptability studies in CEEGS
Speakers: Ana Delicado, University of Lisbon / Ana Prades, CIEMAT

15:15 – Q&A

15:30 – End of event

SPEAKERS:

• Paul Mitchell originally trained as a minerals engineer, and after completing his doctorate on the control of pollution emanating from metal mine wastes, focused on the environmental, social and governance (ESG) aspects of extractives, with a particular focus on mining. For nearly 40 years, he has worked on projects related to a broad range of mineral and metal commodities, including potash, base and precious metals, minor metals, industrial minerals, coal and other energy minerals, aggregates, strategic metals, rare earth elements and gemstones. He has a detailed understanding of different regulatory and legislative regimes across the extractive industries lifecycle (from exploration to closure) and has worked on extractives projects in the Middle East, the Americas, Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia and Oceania. Paul’s extensive experience informs his understanding of mining-related technical, environmental, social and governance challenges and opportunities. His experience includes mining at all scales, from artisanal to large-scale industrial operations across the project lifecycle, working with diverse clients including mining, smelting and refining companies, trade associations, communities and civil society stakeholders, regulators and legal experts to design and implement appropriate solutions to ESG issues.
• Jane Charman has worked for GEL since 2018, so has experienced every stage of the geothermal power project at the United Downs site. This has given Jane the ability to talk to all stakeholders from government ministers to the local community about the technical aspects of deep geothermal projects. GEL has also worked with schools, colleges and universities giving talks, lessons and careers information for many years. Jane is a huge advocate of extracting critical raw materials from geothermal fluid and is excited to share information about the progress the UK is making as well as other project partners.
• Katrin Kieling is the project manager of the CRM-geothermal project. She is a geophysicist by education. After obtaining her doctoral degree from the University of Potsdam (Germany), Katrin switched to research management and completed a trainee programme at the project office of the Helmholtz-Centre for Geosciences in 2015. In 2016, Katrin joined the Geothermal Energy section of GFZ. Since then, she has managed EU-funded projects on topics related to geothermal systems, starting with the GEMex collaboration with Mexico and continuing with the REFLECT project on geothermal fluids. Currently, she focuses on the combined extraction of heat and CRM from geothermal fluids in CRM-geothermal as well as on aquifer thermal energy storage in the projects GeoSpeicherBerlin and PUSH-IT.
• Ana Delicado is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Social Sciences (ICS) of the University of Lisbon and has a PhD in Sociology (2006). She specialises in social studies of science. She is currently coordinator of the Observatory of Changing Society of ICS. She has coordinated competitively funded national projects on scientific associations, the acceptance of renewable energies and social dimensions of the Internet of Things. She has led the ICS team in six EU-funded research projects on children and disaster risk reduction, renewable energy landscapes, science communication, CCS and CEEGS. She teaches in the PhD programme on Climate Change and Sustainable Development Policies and frequently engages in science outreach.
• Ricardo Chacartegui is a professor at the Energy Engineering Department of the University of Seville. He obtained his PhD in 2005, and since 2006, he has more than 150 documents registered in Scopus and more than 80 publications in international congresses since 2007. His main research fields are related to energy storage, novel energy systems, and LCE technologies.  He has participated in more than 60 projects in collaboration with the industry and he has participated in 9 patents. Ricardo coordinates the Horizon Europe project for energy storage CEEGS, based on transcritical CO2 energy storage.
• Ana Prades holds a degree in Political Science and Sociology and a PhD in Information Science, both from the Complutense University of Madrid. She is a senior scientist at CIEMAT (a public research body specialising in energy, technology and the environment) and heads the Sociotechnical Research Centre (CISOT-CIEMAT) in Barcelona. Her research focuses on the social perception of environmental and technological risk, as well as on tools and methods for citizen participation in the context of climate change and sustainability. Another of her areas of research is the implications of these processes for the development and implementation of public policies. Ana coordinated the PACHEBEL project, funded by the European Union’s 7th Framework Programme (2010–2013), and the Social Studies on Fusion (SES) programme (2014–2020). She is currently coordinating the ECF4CLIM project, funded by H2020, which focuses on developing a European competence framework to combat climate change and promote sustainability in education (2021–2025).

We look forward to your participation in this important conversation about building trust and acceptance around technologies boosting the energy transition.