Module manager: Emma Bramham
Email: e.k.bramham@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable
Year running 2025/26
This module is approved as a discovery module
Geothermal Energy offers the potential not only for clean, sustainable energy globally but also for cooling and long-term energy storage. For achieving both UK and global net zero targets, geothermal energy presents a growing industry expected to develop at a fast rate over the coming decade to support the essential global transition to clean, place-based energy both in the UK and internationally. This module aims to explore the necessarily inter-disciplinary approach needed from across geoscience, engineering, social science and environmental science to accommodate the rapid and proactive change key for a successful energy transition. We will explore how interdisciplinary collaboration drives forward geothermal energy use for the future, the challenges we face in developing geothermal systems and how these fits into achieving long term, clean energy for all. The University’s on campus living lab for Geothermal research will form an integral part of the module providing live data and cutting-edge interdisciplinary research. Whilst there are no pre-requisite qualifications or experience, the module will use digital tools and scientific techniques to enhance student experience and support learning.
In this module you will examine the distribution of, and options for, geothermal energy around the world, exploring what is needed to achieve a successful geothermal energy system. You will investigate how geothermal energy is controlled in the subsurface, and how we would sustainably manage these energy reservoirs over the long-term.
You will engage with current debates in the research literature and across a range of key case studies globally to deepen your understanding of political, societal, economic and environmental contexts. You will explore how these can both enable and act as barriers to moving towards more sustainable energy provisions such as geothermal energy. You will develop skills in integrated system thinking and critical decision making across a range of exemplar geothermal scenarios.
You will take actively participate in the living lab for Geothermal research by integrating live data into your case study project. Through hands on experience with this and other key representative case studies, you will gain insights into uncertainties, hazards and risks, and how they are managed in practical terms. Bringing your own expertise, you will examine how geothermal energy fits as part of a multi-faceted energy transition solution, and how your learning around geothermal energy can be applied across other energy transition environments such as offshore wind, hydrogen storage and CCUS.
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following learning outcomes relevant to the subject:
SSLO1: Explain the importance of the role of each discipline in a successful establishment and use of a geothermal system.
SSLO2: Explain what geothermal energy is and how it can be used for heat, cooling, energy storage and power, and how it can be used in a circular economy of heat in the energy transition.
SSLO3: Analyse how the subsurface controls the type of geothermal energy we have in a location-dependent way, and compare and contrast the types of geothermal energy available across multiple case-studies.
SSLO4: Discuss the influence of social acceptance, governance and policy, environment and risks on the establishment of a working and sustainable geothermal system.
Skills Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following skills learning outcomes:
SKLO1: Effective communication of a specialist topic to a multidisciplinary audience (work ready, sustainability, enterprise and digital skills)
SKLO2: Critical and anticipatory thinking to understand and evaluate multiple potential outcomes of a geothermal case study using a multidisciplinary approach (sustainability, academic, work ready skills)
SKLO3: Analyse complex systems (geological, environmental, economic and social systems and interdependencies across these) and considers how they embed together within different domains and scales (sustainability skills)
SKLO4: Find, evaluate, organise and share information and data across a variety of formats and media (digital, enterprise, academic and sustainability skills)
Details of the syllabus will be provided on the Minerva organisation (or equivalent) for the module.
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lecture | 10 | 1 | 10 |
| Practical | 2 | 4 | 8 |
| Practical | 8 | 2 | 16 |
| Private study hours | 66 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 34 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 100 | ||
Formative feedback will be received during the practical hours, where we will work on the case studies building towards their group assessment.
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Coursework | Group work | 30 |
| Coursework | Coursework | 70 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 100 | |
Note that for the individual resit, the group debate component will take the format of an individual presentation based on a given dataset that combines all the interdisciplinary information relevant to the group work.
The reading list is available from the Library website
Last updated: 02/05/2025
Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team