On April 10th 2018, BRGM signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, a Department of Energy Office of Science lab managed by University of California.
11 April 2018
Signature of the MOU between BRGM and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Michèle Rousseau, CEO of BRGM, and Susan Hubbard, Director of Earth and Environmental Sciences Area, representing Michael Witherell, Director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, signed a Memorandum of Understanding on April 10th 2018 in Orléans, France.

© BRGM - Frédéric Moreira

BRGM and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to explore potential future collaboration in the field of Earth Sciences, on April 10th 2018 in Orléans, France.

Future collaborations on energy resources recovery and environmental protection

The Memorandum includes several areas of collaboration in the fields of energy resource recovery and environmental protection:

  • Reactive Transport Modelling For Georesources and Environmental Issues
  • Geophysical Modelling For Environmental Monitoring and Risks
  • Water Management and Aquifer Recharge
  • Geothermal Energy
  • Carbon Capture and Sequestration
  • Environmental Big Data
  • Induced Seismicity
  • Nuclear Waste Storage
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This agreement formalises and supports the longstanding efforts of the two organisations to establish partnerships to work on topics of common interest. It substantially broadens the longstanding partnership between the Berkeley Lab and the BRGM. This partnership combines the complementary strengths of our two institutions and promises to substantially broaden the global impact of developed science and technology."

Susan Hubbard, Director for Earth and Environmental Sciences of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

BRGM and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory expect to collaborate through mutual visits, the exchange of publicly available information, exchanges of researchers and experts, training and planning for potential future joint research and joint organization of international conferences and scientific events.

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Cooperation between the two organisatio is long-established and of very high scientific quality, with a laboratory that has developed highly effective models, particularly to simulate the behaviour of fluids in geological formations. Our cooperation has enabled us to develop models to predict the long-term behaviour of geological systems, with applications in a range of sectors including geothermal energy, CO2 storage and radioactive waste storage in geological formations. This agreement aims to broaden our cooperation through cross-fertilisation of our expertise in new research sectors such as ground instability risks or environmental data management.

Philippe Freyssinet, BRGM's Director for Strategy, Research and Communication