CRM geothermal explores the potentiel of deep geothermal environments exploited for the generation of electricity and heath as alternative sources for critical raw materials (CRM).
The laboratory of Microbiology explores the feasibility of using microbial activity to recover CRM from geothermal brines. For this, we follow a nature-inspired approach by selecting microbial properties and/or metabolisms that are known to be involved in biogeochemical processes where metal solubility is at the core. Then, the aim is to understand the abiotic and trophic factors that are necessary to trigger either metal-mobilization or -immobilization, in order to achieve selective metal recovery depending on the brine’s composition.
This part of the project is funded by the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation, as part of an international collaboration sponsored by a Europe Horizon grant.