Geoenergy Observatory to go ahead in Cheshire

The study will involve the drilling of 50 boreholes from between 50 and 1200m deep across the 12km² study area. They will contain a network of 1800 seismic sensors and 5km of fibre-optic cable that can measure earth tremors. The sensors will generate millions of terabytes of data on the chemical, physical and biological properties of the rocks over a 15-year period. The boreholes will also allow thousands of water samples to be taken over the next 15 years from between 50 and 400m below the surface. Some 8km of borehole drilling will generate 3000m of rock core, which will be taken back to the BGS’s national core scanning facility for laboratory analysis.

“More and more of the solutions to decarbonising our energy supply will need to come from beneath our feet. Ensuring we take forward these solutions in a sustainable way means understanding more about the system,” said Prof Mike Stephenson, chief scientist at the BGS. “Second by second, minute by minute, day by day, we’ll be measuring the pulse of the Earth in a way that the scientific community simply hasn’t been able to do until now.