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Abstract:
The BedrettoLab is an open and extendable research infrastructure of ETH Zurich. It is located in the Bedretto tunnel in the Swiss Alps. Its primary mission is to advance transdisciplinary research in geoenergy applications, such as deep geothermal reservoir development in crystalline rocks, and in frontier geoscience research, such as earthquake physics and predictability. Laboratories in the deep underground bridge the gap between natural scales (kilometres and above) and the research-lab scale (centimetres). This facility is extremely valuable to Earth scientists for hypothesis driven, fundamental research as well as for technology demonstrations. In a natural and realistic setting, experiments such as inducing micro-earthquakes or reservoir stimulation at the scale of tens to hundreds of meters can be conducted under controlled and repeatable conditions, observed closely by hundreds of multi-parameter sensors. Currently, about 50 scientists, engineers and technicians are part of the core BedrettoLab Team.Within the BedrettoLab two separate reservoirs, the so called Geothermal and Earthquake physics test-beds, have been developed and instrumented. Both test-beds are equipped with numerous boreholes either for stimulation purposes or monitoring. The monitoring boreholes are equipped with a high-resolution monitoring system.Beyond the two dedicated test-beds, the Bedretto tunnel provides smaller experimental sites, such as individual boreholes (10-40m), geological outcrops, water inflows or hydro-bio-chemical sampling at various places along the 5.2km long tunnel.We present latest results of ongoing experiments, projects in preparation and future perspectives.
