ALPHAXIOMS Geothermal News & Energy Research

€1 Billion EU Auction: A Game-Changer for Decarbonizing Europe's Industrial Heat Posted by Robert Buluma | December 4, 2025 In a bold move toward climate neutrality, the European Commission has just opened the doors to a €1 billion funding bonanza aimed squarely at slashing fossil fuel dependency in one of Europe's most carbon-intensive sectors: industrial heat. If you're in the energy transition space, engineering, or sustainability game, this is your wake-up call. The Innovation Fund Fixed Premium Auction 2025 (IF25) for Industrial Process Heat Decarbonisation is now live, and it's not just another grant round—it's a competitive sprint to electrify and renew the way industries heat up their operations. As of today, December 4, 2025, the call is open for submissions until February 19, 2026. With projects required to be up and running within four years of grant signature, this auction is designed for speed and scale. Let's break it down: what it covers, who'...

Alberta launches $35-million challenge to reinvent drilling for the next 50 years   By  Robert Buluma | December 3, 2025   EDMONTON – The days of drilling straight down and hoping for the best are long gone. Today, operators in Western Canada routinely steer multi-kilometre horizontal wells with pinpoint accuracy from a single surface location. Tomorrow’s wells, however, could be guided entirely by artificial intelligence, powered by low-emission rigs, and used to unlock everything from geothermal heat to critical minerals and permanent CO₂ storage. That future just got a $35-million boost. Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA ) officially opened applications this week for the Drilling Technology Challenge, a funding program designed to bridge the “valley of death” that too often kills promising subsurface innovations before they ever reach the field. “Many great ideas never make it past the prototype stage because the cost and risk of real-world testing are simply...

Europe Takes a Giant Leap Toward Lithium Independence: EIB Backs Vulcan Energy’s €2 Billion Lionheart Project with €250 Million By: Robert Buluma 3 December 2025 – In a move that could reshape Europe’s battery and electric-vehicle future, the European Investment Bank (EIB) has just signed a landmark €250 million financing agreement with Australian-German company Vulcan Energy for Phase One of the Lionheart Project in Germany’s Upper Rhine Valley. This isn’t just another mining project. It’s Europe’s first commercial-scale Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) operation that simultaneously produces battery-grade lithium and renewable geothermal heat and power – all with a net-zero carbon footprint. Why this matters for Europe Lithium is classified as both a critical and strategic raw material under the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act.   Europe currently imports >95% of its battery-grade lithium, mostly from Australia, Chile and China.   By 2030, the EU’s demand for lit...

Karlsruhe’s Geothermal Collapse: A Costly Blow to Germany’s Energy Transition By:  Robert Buluma In the heart of Baden-Württemberg, a project that once symbolized ambition, innovation, and the promise of clean geothermal heat has now collapsed quietly. What was meant to become one of Germany’s most transformative regional heating networks has instead turned into a warning sign for Europe’s energy transition. The dissolution of the regional heat association in the Karlsruhe district,made up of ten municipalities,marks a serious setback not only for Germany but for the broader global geothermal movement. This is more than a failed project. It is a lesson in communication, financing, political courage, and the true cost of clean energy. A Vision That Should Have Succeeded The plan was compelling: Harness the deep geothermal power beneath Graben-Neudorf,home to Germany’s hottest geothermal well to deliver CO₂-neutral district heating to communities from Bretten to Bruchsal, Forst, and ...

China Just Quietly Built One of the Greenest Heating Systems on Earth – And Hardly Anyone Noticed By:  Robert Buluma In a quiet corner of Shaanxi Province, something remarkable just happened. On an ordinary day in late 2025, nine deep geothermal wells in Qishan County, Baoji City, began pumping clean heat from 2,800 meters beneath the Earth’s surface into thousands of homes. No smoke. No coal. No water extracted from the ground and no wastewater discharged back into it. This is China’s first large-scale mid-deep geothermal closed-loop district heating project, and it might be one of the most under-reported green energy milestones of the decade. The Numbers Are Staggering 9 geothermal wells (drilled to 2,800–3,000 m)   100% closed-loop heat exchange – zero fluid leaves or enters the rock formation   Supplies central heating to the entire southern district of Qishan County   Annual savings: 12,000 tons of standard coal   Annual CO₂ reduction: 3...

Iceland's Geothermal Renaissance: Government Bets Big on Low-Enthalpy and Innovative Uses By: Robert Buluma Iceland has long been the poster child for geothermal energy. With legendary high-temperature fields powering everything from the famous Blue Lagoon to nearly 100% of the country’s electricity and district heating, most people assumed the geothermal story was already written. Apparently not. In a move that has the global geothermal community buzzing, the Icelandic government has just announced a massive ISK 600 million (roughly €4 million / $4.4 million USD) grant program specifically designed to kick-start innovative geothermal projects, with the state covering up to one-third of total project costs. What makes this announcement truly exciting isn’t the money itself (Iceland has funded geothermal before), but the deliberate shift in focus: low-enthalpy resources and non-traditional applications. Why This Matters  The Low-Enthalpy Revolution For decades, Iceland’s geothermal ...