Innovation@Vulcan
We are convinced: Innovation is key.
Becoming Europe’s leading Zero Carbon Lithium™ Business and enabling energy security through geothermal renewable energy is our mission. For this unique commercial approach, Vulcan reconciles proven technologies. We aim to provide lithium and baseload renewable heat and power with a very low environmental impact, compared to conventional approaches. Hence, innovation is key to our success.
How we want to reach this:
- Towards comprehensive understanding reservoir properties to optimise reservoir development and to assess and control reservoir productivity towards a deep understanding of the reservoir – operations-interactions to keep risks at bay
- For efficiently producing and delivering base-load heat and electricity
- For extracting lithium effectively from the geothermal brine with a net zero carbon footprint
We are protective.
During all our activities harming neither people nor environment has the highest priority. These are our innovation action fields.
Optimising Resource Assessment and Site Development
Our innovation projects aim to optimise our assessment technologies to find the best access points to the resource. By enhancing our site development processes, i.e., drilling and drilling waste removal, we will minimise our environmental impact and ensure groundwater and biodiversity protection.
One project strengthens our assessment technologies to optimise geothermal resource assessment by using data based de-risking methods and decision making. Expected key results:
- Reducing risks of seismicity and mitigating environmental impact by reliable subsurface characterisation based on comprehensive key geological data sets
- Cost effective yet reliable designs for strategy solution
- Foster public acceptance towards geothermal production using more elaborate insights underpinned by enhanced data quality
Learn more about exploration >here
Enhancing Energy Production and Brine Control
Geothermal energy has been used ever since ancient Roman times. However, to harness the full potential of hydrothermal energy from greater depths as a wide-spread baseload and safe heat and power source requires a comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms in the subsurface, when bringing the key medium, the brine, up from the reservoir. For hydrothermal energy to be produced requires handling of the brine. Geothermal brine is a complex saline fluid containing gases and numerous dissolved minerals. It is produced at high temperatures and high pressures. Processes must be designed and optimised accordingly:
- To maximize the thermal energy production and the power plant availability by controlled maintenance shutdowns
- To minimise waste and loss of electricity and heat
- Furthermore, increasing the flexibility of geothermal production allows us to meet seasonal demands for heat.
Lithium- Resource efficient Extraction
We are aiming to produce the world’s first net zero carbon lithium. To achieve this, we developed our own sorbent VULSORB® and we are establishing an environmentally friendly production process for this sorbent material with
- High lithium recovery/high sorbent capacity/high selectivity towards lithium
- Long lifetime
- Recyclable starting materials
We are part of a worldwide Innovation Network.
We are proud to be part of a worldwide innovation network, well connected to the geothermal and lithium world.
Most of our innovation projects are funded by national agencies and the European Union.
Vulcan has innovation in its DNA. We are convinced that innovation is the key to our success and we are working on a better world of tomorrow every day.
We follow our Innovations-Prozess.
Our dedicated Innovation Process ensures a systematic, comprehensive, group-wide procedure of how to
- identify development and optimisation needs using our Innovation Roadmap
- align project proposals with the Vulcan Innovation Strategy
- observe an efficient stage gate process
- share development and foresight insights within our organisation and into our business
- disseminate our findings externally
- while maintaining a lean administration for all those activities
Unprecedented demand Sustainability is our purpose.
Sustainability is the cornerstone upon which Vulcan was founded. Proudly disruptive, Vulcan’s diverse team comes from all over the globe, united by a passion for environmentalism and science. It is our purpose to empower a net zero carbon future.
Learn more About the topic.
As part of our integrated project, we use the deep geothermal energy of the Upper Rhine Graben both for renewable energies and for ZERO CARBON LITHIUM™. We are therefore doing our utmost to provide information about deep geothermal energy. Here you can find further interesting links on the topic.
Since 1991, the German Geothermal Energy Association has made an effort to inform the public about all aspects of geothermal energy and deep geothermal energy. Here you will not only find the latest news and exciting key figures, but also relevant questions about geothermal energy in your home, groundwater protection or insurance in the event of damage.
The State Geothermal Research Center has worked with experts from various fields to provide comprehensive answers to many questions on deep geothermal energy. Easy-to-understand summaries and clear illustrations for each area make the program accessible to everyone.
The Rhineland-Palatinate State Office for Mining and Geology can provide special insights into regional geothermal energy and current projects. It also offers services such as the state earthquake service, or explains legislation that is not only essential for us, but can also provide you with valuable background knowledge.