Hydrogeological modelling requires numerical methods to provide both a suitable representation of the subsurface and an adequate base for the simulation of flow and transport processes required for environmental studies (water resources, climate change). Read more…
To conceive and build a groundwater model (e.g., for water resources), one must go through a geological model; both models are complex in nature and require experts in each domain with very specific knowledge. In general, the hydrogeologist begins building of the groundwater model from a rough idea of groundwater flows, backwards into describing the “reservoir”; the geologist, on the other hand, begins building of the geological model from the knowledge of the geology of the region under study, forwards into proposing a “reservoir”. Read more…
Ian Duncan grew up on the edge of the desert. As a child in New South Wales, Australia, years would pass without rain, Duncan recalls. His family had to rely on artesian water—hot and salty groundwater—until rain would fall and collect in a tank on the roof of his family’s house. Growing up in this environment, Duncan gained an appreciation for water that would inspire his future career as an environmental scientist.
Now associate director for earth and environmental systems at the Jackson School of Geosciences’ Bureau of Economic Geology, Duncan maintains a global view of water resources from his office in Austin, Texas. He sums up future water challenges in one word: sustainability. Read more…
Geothermal technology has three varied ways of taking geothermal energy and turning it in to useable energy for humans to use. The most common systems are steam and binary power plants. There are two different types of steam power plants: dry steam and flash steam. The following definitions and pictures are from Geothermal Technologies Program or Godfrey Boyle in Renewable Energy: Power for a Sustainable Future. Read more…