Unveiling Earth’s Critical Resources for Clean Energy and a Sustainable Future

The coming decade will be a defining test for humanity and its capacity to respond to unprecedented global challenges. To meet the demands from the energy transition and related green technologies, the current global supply of critical minerals will have to quadruple by the end of 2040. Likewise, the EU2030 goal to create a more resilient energy plan with minimum dependency on fossil fuels, creates an enormous demand for alternative, greener and sustainable energy sources. Among these, deep geothermal energy has the highest potential for long-term, large-scale supply of energy for heating and generation of electrical power.

In response to these pressing needs, the EarthSafe Doctoral Network will develop an innovative and efficient data-fusion paradigm to enhance the effectiveness of exploration efforts for deep geothermal resources and critical materials, robust to data missing limitations. EarthSafe will achieve this ambitious goal by harnessing i) the complementary strengths of multiple satellite and land-acquired datasets and ii) a novel combination of artificial intelligence, probabilistic inverse theory, computer modelling and science communication. Holistic training of Early Stage Researchers in these powerful disciplines will prepare them to addressing the most critical challenges that our society will confront in the next decades, making them highly attractive to both the academic and non-academic sectors. By formally embedding innovative science communication strategies, EarthSafe will create a new dimension of engagement with the general public and policy makers worldwide. Given its global scope, EarthSafe will support the creation of new energy and economic opportunities in vulnerable societies, helping them to tackle inequality and energy poverty while at the same time consolidating Europe’s innovation and technological capacity. In doing so, EarthSafe will contribute to, and is perfectly aligned with, the main objectives of the European Green Deal.