The European Union, through the Interreg VA Program, seeks to promote innovation and competitiveness in the cross-border area between Spain and France. The PIXIL project (Pyrenees Imaging eXperience: an InternationaL network) aims to boost geothermal energy, thus providing a valuable opportunity for the region to move towards the energy transition.
Geothermal is a natural source of energy that has minimal environmental impact and is free of CO2 emissions. This energy resource uses a constant flow of thermal energy that goes from the subsoil to the surface and, in small scale, helps to reduce costs associated with air conditioning of homes or installations of all kinds or, in larger projects, to produce electrical energy. Geothermal energy works 24 hours a day and therefore provides excellent support for other renewable energy sources that present greater variability, such as photovoltaic or wind. Besides, it is an energy of purely local origin, not only for its close usage in the place obtained but also bfor its non-dependence on technologies or foreign materials.
The PIXIL project proposes to create a cross-border R&D network focused on the development of prospecting geophysical technology or imaging of the subsoil that improves the sectoral competitiveness of the area, values local resources and strengthens professional skills at a transnational level, with significant benefits for the population of the region. Scientific and technological efforts are focused on improving the characterization of the subsoil through geophysical techniques. As imaging has a strong impact in the fields of mining and hydrocarbons, the project aims to bring this technology to geothermal energy. Thanks to the exploitation of geothermal energy, the local population can take benefit from a favorable return on the investment in the medium or long term and also from clean and renewable energy.
PIXIL is composed by professionals of important technological and research centers such as the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), the Basque Center for Applied Mathematics (BCAM), the University of Barcelona (UB), on the Spanish side, and RealTimeSeismic (RTS), the Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies du numérique (Inria) and Pole AVENIA, on the French side. In addition, PIXIL has a large group of collaborators who represent the local business, whose mission is to evaluate the results or achievements, guide new developments and, in the future, apply technological advances as part of their portfolio of services and thus improve the competitiveness of the sector.
This innovative project, led by researcher Josep de la Puente, is coordinated by the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC). "A good characterization of the subsoil can be key in order to have more reliable and economical geothermal projects. In PIXIL we strongly believe that through simulation and analysis of geophysical data we can boost geothermal industry. We focus on the region, but we have also international ambition," says de la Puente.
The project has been 65% co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Interreg VA Spain-France-Andorra Program (POCTEFA 2014-2020). The objective of POCTEFA is to reinforce the economic and social integration of the Spain-France-Andorra border area. Its assistance focuses on the development of cross-border economic, social, and environmental activities through joint strategies in favor of sustainable territorial development.