2nd Canadian Geothermal Students' Days 2021

University of Manitoba, Winnipeg

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21–22 June 2021

COVID-19 Important Notice: 2nd CANADIAN GEOTHERMAL STUDENT DAYS

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With the increase in health concerns about the spread of the COVID-19 virus, the 2ND edition of CGSD might be online.  We encourage all participants to continually update themselves by regularly visiting our website for any future changes.

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We apologize ahead for any inconvenience this might pose. Still, in these challenging times, we must follow expert advice and be wary of group gatherings to slow or prevent this virus's spread.

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In case you need to get in touch with the CGSD team, please send your emails to fatolaha@myumanitoba.ca.

The conference

Following the significant success of the first-ever Canadian Geothermal Students’ Days (CGSD) in Québec City, the CGSD team is excited to bring you the second edition on June 21–22, 2021, in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

The theme for CGSD 2021 is 'Geothermal Energy in Cold Climates', and this is to highlight Canada's emerging role in the field of geothermal energy, especially in cold regions.

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CGSD was established in 2019 to bring students and significant stakeholders in geothermal energy throughout Canada together for networking, learning, and sharing of ideas. The purpose is to help advance pioneering knowledge and technologies relating to the development of geothermal energy in Canada.

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The Canadian Geothermal Students' Day is organized by students, for students, and therefore intended to take place in a relaxed and friendly environment. Participants must submit an abstract and present their research projects (oral presentations) during the conference. There are no inscription fees for students willing to give a presentation on their work; for any other enquiries, please contact us: fatolaha@myumanitoba.ca.

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A little reminder: ice-breaker evening, coffee and lunch breaks, as well as conference dinner, are offered for free during the conference; however, accommodation, travel, and poster expenses are paid for by the participants themselves. Nevertheless, depending on the number of attendees, travel grants might be possible to arrange. Please contact the CGSD 2021 Liaison: fatolaha@myumanitoba.ca.

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To learn more about the activities scheduled for CGSD 2021 including inspirational keynotes from geothermal energy experts in Canada, student presentations, and field trips to some interesting geothermal energy sites in Winnipeg, please visit the link below.

Suite au succès important des premières Journées canadiennes des étudiants en géothermie (CGSD) à Québec, l'équipe CGSD est ravie de vous présenter la deuxième édition les 21 et 22 juin 2021, à Winnipeg, au Manitoba.

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Le thème du CGSD 2021 est «L'énergie géothermique dans les climats froids», afin de souligner le rôle émergent du Canada dans le domaine de l'énergie géothermique, en particulier dans les régions froides.

Le CGSD a été créé en 2019 pour rassembler les étudiants et les principaux intervenants de l'énergie géothermique à travers le Canada pour le réseautage, l'apprentissage et le partage d'idées. Le but est d'aider à faire progresser les connaissances et les technologies pionnières liées au développement de l'énergie géothermique au Canada.

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La Journée canadienne des étudiants en géothermie est organisée par des étudiants, pour des étudiants, et a donc pour but de se dérouler dans un environnement détendu et convivial. Les participants doivent soumettre un résumé et présenter leurs projets de recherche (présentations orales) pendant la conférence. Il n'y a pas de frais d'inscription pour les étudiants désireux de faire une présentation de leur travail; pour toute autre demande, veuillez nous contacter: fatolaha@myumanitoba.ca.

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Petit rappel: la soirée brise-glace, les pauses café et déjeuner ainsi que le dîner de conférence sont offerts gratuitement pendant la conférence; cependant, les frais d'hébergement, de voyage et d'affiches sont payés par les participants eux-mêmes. Néanmoins, en fonction du nombre de participants, des bourses de voyage peuvent être envisageables. Veuillez contacter la liaison CGSD 2021: fatolaha@myumanitoba.ca.

Pour en savoir plus sur les activités prévues pour le CGSD 2021, y compris des discours inspirants d'experts en géothermie au Canada, des présentations d'étudiants et des excursions sur certains sites intéressants de géothermie à Winnipeg, veuillez visiter le lien ci-dessous.

Information

Abstract submission and inscription

Please use the template to write your abstract.

For inscription send us your word file through the email: fatolaha@myumanitoba.ca

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Important Deadlines for submission of Documents

Abstract submission :  15, October 2020 

Short Paper submission : 19, February 2021

Short Paper Return for Revision: 19, March 2021

Final submission of Revised Paper : 09, April 2021

Inscription fees

This event is free-of-charge for participants presenting their work

Schedule

View the tentative schedule below:

Short Paper submission and inscription

Please use the template to write your short paper.

For inscription send us your word file through the email: fatolaha@myumanitoba.ca

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Informations

Soumission de résumé et inscription

Veuillez utiliser le modèle pour rédiger votre résumé.

Pour vous inscrire, envoyez-nous votre fichier word pour l'email: 

fatolaha@myumanitoba.ca

Dates limites importantes pour la soumission des documents

Soumission des résumés: 15 octobre 2020

Soumission d'un article court: 19 février 2021

Retour sur papier court pour révision: 19, mars 2021 Soumission finale du document révisé: 09, avril 2021

Frais d'inscription

Cet événement est gratuit pour les participants présentant leur travail

Programme

Consultez le calendrier provisoire ci-dessous:

Soumission et inscription d'un article court

Veuillez utiliser le modèle pour rédiger votre court article. Pour inscription, envoyez-nous votre fichier Word par e-mail: fatolaha@myumanitoba.ca

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Keynote Speakers

Grant Ferguson (PhD)

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University of Saskatchewan

Steve Grasby (PhD)

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Geological Survey of Canada

Dr. Stephen Grasby is a Senior Research Scientist at the Geological Survey of Canada and leader of the Garibaldi Volcanic Belt Geothermal Project. Since completion of his PhD in 1997 he has worked at the GSC on issues ranging from regional groundwater studies, groundwater systems in permafrost regimes of the High Arctic, and paleo-environment research of the Phanerozoic, mainly focused on stratigraphic records of the Arctic Islands. He has been leading the re-invigoration of geothermal research in the federal government, including a major 2012 report on geothermal potential of Canada. He is also currently President of Geothermal Canada

Geothermal Energy Potential of the Mount Meager Volcano – The Hottest Place in Canada

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ABSTRACT
Canada’s stated goal of achieving net zero emissions by 2050 requires a significant transition to renewable energy resources. While wind and solar power have been a primary focus, their intermittent generation creates challenges to support a grid. Geothermal energy has many benefits compared with other renewables, principally it provides a highly stable, reliable, and dispatchable power supply. The reliability of geothermal energy is countered by the high exploration risk associated with drilling deep exploration wells to discover hot, and more critically, permeable reservoirs. Reducing these exploration risks requires novel geoscience tools.

Mount Meager is the only active volcano in Canada, last erupting about 2400 years ago, and today being characterised by fumaroles and numerous thermal springs. During the energy crises of the late 70’s and early 80’s the federal government initiated a Geothermal Energy Program, responsible for collecting much of the geothermal data that exists today. As part of this now defunct program an exploration well was drilled on Mount Meager, this and subsequent wells defined the highest temperature thermal resource known in Canada, with 250 °C waters discovered at about 2 km depth. This is a world class thermal resource— that has never been developed. Initial attempts at power generation were marginally successful and it was determined that despite the high temperature, flow rate was insufficient to produce sufficient power. Permeability became the limiting factor for the project success.

New ideas and methods for the prediction of high-permeability zones at depth are required. To this end the Geological Survey of Canada assembled a team comprised of 34 researchers from a total of seven universities and government agencies. The research program is supported by Geoscience BC and the Natural Resources Canada Emerging Renewable Power Program. Researchers with expertise in geological and structural mapping, volcanology, geophysics (especially gravity, magnetotelluric, and passive seismic surveying), geochemistry, regional stress field analyses, and hydrogeology were brought together into one coherent research project starting in July 2019. The goal is to use an integrated approach to see into the heart of the mountain and enable clearer identification of high-permeability zones within the known thermal anomaly.

The research occurred on the traditional lands of Squamish and Lil’wat First Nations. Planning and field support by M. Bruce and T. Jenkins of Lil’wat First Nation is greatly appreciated. This research project could not have occurred without the contributions of all the researchers and students involved, including the following: from the Geological Survey of Canada, R. Bryant, Z. Chen, J. A. Craven, J. Liu, S. M. Ansari, and V. Tschirhart; from Simon Fraser University, A. Calahorrano-Di Patre, M. Muhammad, and G. Williams-Jones; from the University of Calgary, J. Dettmer, H. Gilbert, R. O. Salvage, and G. Savard; from the University of Alberta, C. Hanneson and M. J. Unsworth; from the University of British Columbia, M. Harris and K. Russell; and from Douglas College, N. Vigouroux-Caillibot. The research team greatly appreciates support from pilots M. Accurso, D. Vincent, and R. Sliger of No Limits Helicopters; and ongoing field support by Wayne Russell of Innergex Renewable Energy Inc. In addition, the field program was substantially supported by Innergex Renewable Energy, which provided lodging and logistical resources at its nearby run-of-river facility. C.Stenner provided the unique skills required to enter volcanic glacial ice caves.

Sarah is the project geologist for the Yukon Geological Survey’s fault controlled geothermal project. Sarah worked as a consulting engineer in Yukon for over ten years completing hydrogeological and geotechnical projects including water supply, regional and local hydrogeological characterization, geochemistry, geothermal potential studies, permafrost and geotechnical investigations mapping and characterization. Sarah completed her master’s degree in sustainable energy engineering with a focus on geothermal in 2016, and her geothermal focused work includes geothermal potential mapping in Northwest Territories, geothermal potential exploration in Yukon including regional studies including remote sensing, groundwater chemistry analysis, and drilling investigations as well as engineering feasibility assessment of geoexchange heating applications. Sarah’s experience includes two years of project management for major infrastructure projects in Yukon, which provides unique perspective on infrastructure energy needs as well as cost and feasibility for large infrastructure undertakings in Yukon.

Sarah Sternbergh, M.ScE., P.Eng.

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Project Geologist, Government of Yukon

Geothermal Energy Potential of the Mount Meager Volcano – The Hottest Place in Canada

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ABSTRACT

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The Yukon Geological Survey (YGS) is conducting research to evaluate the geothermal potential of Yukon in collaboration with First Nations governments, universities, Geological Survey of Canada and geothermal consultants. Initial desktop studies include mapping of the Curie Point depth (CPD) using public domain regional aeromagnetic data (Witter and Miller, 2017; Witter et al., 2018) and evaluation of the radiogenic heat potential of granitoid plutons using a YGS compilation of lithogeochemical data (Friend and Colpron, 2017). A comprehensive compilation of all existing geothermal-related data is ongoing, and includes data from thermal springs, temperature measurements from shallow and deep (>500 m) boreholes from various industry applications, and unpublished geothermal potential assessment work commissioned by the Yukon Energy Corporation.

The CPD mapping has identified southern Yukon as the region most likely to have an elevated geothermal gradient and is the focus of new data collected by the YGS. Two ~500 m thermal gradient boreholes were drilled in 2017-18 near Whitehorse and Ross River. The Whitehorse well was drilled near Takhini hot springs, where surface water is 46°C, while drilling near Ross River targeted the Tintina fault using results of a study commissioned by the Ross River Dena Council (Mira Geoscience, 2017). For the most part, average gradients of 25-31°C/km were measured in both wells, except for a sharp increase in temperature to 25.3°C near the bottom of the Takhini well (Fraser et al., 2019; Langevin et al., 2020). Initial evaluation of the radiogenic heat potential of granitoid plutons identified data gaps and anomalous plutons that led to further field investigations mainly in the Teslin region (Colpron, 2019; Colpron et al., 2021).

In 2019, the YGS focused its geothermal research on fault-controlled geothermal systems and initiated a detailed study of the Denali fault near Burwash Landing, where shallow CPD (~14 km) coincides with mapped complexities along the active fault system. The acquisition of detailed gravity and Extremely Low Frequency Electromagnetic (ELF-EM) data has facilitated the development of a 3D subsurface model of the Denali fault system that was used to identify drilling targets near the Duke River (Witter, 2020).

In 2020, the YGS received funding from Natural Resources Canada (Emerging Renewable Power Program) and Yukon Government (Our Clean Future Strategy) to drill the Denali fault near the Duke River and expand its study of fault-controlled geothermal potential to other major faults in southern Yukon. At the Duke River site, detailed magnetotelluric (MT) and passive seismic data will be collected in 2021 to refine the existing subsurface model and finalize drilling targets. Drilling of a deep borehole (>700 m) is planned for winter 2022 and will result in the installation of a long-term monitoring station to collect temperature, water, seismic and in-situ stress data along the Denali fault.

Studies of the Tintina and Teslin fault systems will help define areas of interest and possible drilling targets along these crustal-scale faults near Watson Lake and Teslin. Detailed gravity and MT surveys will be collected across the Tintina fault zone in summer 2021 and passive seismic acquisition is planned for 2022. Similar geophysical acquisition programs are also being developed for the Teslin area in 2022 (gravity and MT) and 2023 (passive seismic). It is notable that some of the shallowest CPD in southern Yukon (~12-14 km) are modelled along the Teslin fault.

Detailed investigation of these three major fault systems will be integrated through regional deployment of an array of broadband seismometers across southern Yukon. Finally, a regional water chemistry sampling program is being developed to complement existing data from water wells and springs in order to develop better understanding of the surface and groundwater expressions of geothermal heat in Yukon.

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References:

Colpron, M., 2019. Potential radiogenic heat production from granitoid plutons in Yukon. Yukon Geological Survey, Open File 2019-16, 1 map and data.

Colpron, M., Hayward, N. and Crowley, J.L., 2021, Potential heat production from the Seagull and Teslin plutonic suites, southern Yukon: Geochemistry, geochronology, rock physical properties, and 3D geophysical inversion of Bouguer gravity data. In: Yukon Exploration and Geology 2020, K.E. MacFarlane (ed.), Yukon Geological Survey, p. 47-72.

Fraser, T., Colpron, M. and Relf, C., 2019. Evaluating geothermal potential in Yukon through temperature gradient drilling. In: Yukon Exploration and Geology 2018, K.E. MacFarlane (ed.), Yukon Geological Survey, p. 75–90.

Friend, M. and Colpron, M., 2017. Potential radiogenic heat production from Cretaceous and younger granitoid plutons in southern Yukon. Yukon Geological Survey, Open File 2017-60, 1 map and data.

Langevin, H., Fraser, T.A. and Raymond, J., 2020. Assessment of the thermo-hydraulic properties of rock samples near Takhini Hot Springs and in the Tintina fault zone, Yukon. Yukon Geological Survey, Miscellaneous Report 19, 30 p.

Mira Geoscience, 2017. Ross River geothermal exploration project: Review of the 2014 work program. Yukon Geological Survey, Miscellaneous Report 18, 141 p. including 1 map (scale 1:50 000).

Witter, J.B., 2020. Early-stage exploration for geothermal energy resources along the Denali fault near Duke River, Yukon. Yukon Geological Survey, Open File 2020-3, 62 p.

Witter, J. and Miller, C., 2017. Curie point depth mapping in Yukon. Yukon Geological Survey, Open File 2017-3, 37 p.

Witter, J.B., Miller, C.A., Friend, M. and Colpron, M., 2018, Curie point depths and heat production in Yukon, Canada, 43rd Workshop on Geothermal Reservoir Engineering: Stanford University, CA, 11 p.

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