An interdisciplinary project that combines experimental work and biogeochemical modeling to assess the use of microbial biotechnologies to improve resource exploitation in the context of geothermal energy production.

Two aspects will be considered: the recovery of critical raw materials (CRMs) and the prevention of silica and/or carbonate scaling. This requires describing the biogeochemical characteristics of fluids in Switzerland and understanding how microbial activity can be used to modify the solubility of selected elements (CRMs and/or Ca, Mg, Si). To achieve this, biogeochemical modeling will be combined with the generation of experimental data from bioreactor tests to enhance the biogeochemical modeling for different fluid compositions. Finally, by combining experimental work and biogeochemical modeling in an iterative loop, the project aims to create a predictive tool to estimate the potential extraction rates of selected CRMs and the prevention of scaling for the different types of geothermal fluids found in Switzerland.