Research

Our guiding motto "Sustainable use of the environment, above and below ground" is representative of the research carried out at the Institute for Applied Geosciences (AGW). In recent years, the AGW has been the only institution in Germany focussing on geoenergy, raw materials, storage and groundwater and has secured itself top positions in various international rankings.

We address the responsible use of georesources for a safe and sustainable supply of energy, raw materials and water, for example through our contributions in the fields of energy (e.g. geothermal energy, underground storage), mobility (e.g. raw materials for battery storage), information (e.g. Big Geodata, AI), and climate and environment (e.g. groundwater).

Our topics

  • Energy - Extraction of geothermal energy, energy raw materials and fossil fuels
  • Resources - Security of supply of metallic, mineral and fossil raw materials
  • Storage - large infrastructure projects for heat-, hydrogen-, hydropower-, gas- and greenhouse gas (CCS) storage as well as toxic and nuclear waste disposal
  • Groundwater - Exploration, protection and sustainable use of groundwater resources in the balance between man and the environment