Department of Energy selects UC Irvine-led, AI-driven geothermal energy project

• MAESTRO project experts will use AI to discover and tap into geothermal energy resources safely and economically.
• Department of Energy-funded initiative was established to improve energy independence and security in the United States.
• Researchers from UC Berkeley, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, UC San Diego, UC Santa Cruz, four national laboratories (Los Alamos, Lawrence Livermore, Lawrence Berkeley and Pacific Northwest) and private enterprises are involved.

Irvine, Calif. - The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science has selected a geothermal energy project led by engineers at the University of California, Irvine to move forward to a second phase that will span three years. The multi-agent AI expert for subsurface reasoning and optimization initiative brings together researchers from a variety of disciplines who will deploy the latest artificial intelligence tools to tap into heat beneath the Earth's surface to spin turbines and generate electricity.

"There is more than enough potential geothermal energy underground to power the entire United States, but unlocking it safely and economically is still a major challenge," said lead principal investigator Mohammad Javad Abdolhosseini Qomi, UC Irvine professor of civil and environmental engineering. "The MAESTRO project is designed to resolve the gaps in our knowledge of complex underground environments by using an integrated AI framework to attack the problem from multiple angles."

MAESTRO is among several recently granted DOE Genesis Phase 2 awards that are intended to capitalize on the powers of AI to transform how specific goals are accomplished - in this case, sustainable energy generation that can enhance the United States' national security and economic stability. According to Qomi, the receipt of a Phase 2 grant means that his team has satisfied Phase 1 requirements to make "transformative contributions" to the field of geothermal energy.

"This is, of course, an honor but also a major responsibility to meet the grand vision set by the DOE for the Genesis Mission," he said.

MAESTRO involves researchers from five University of California campuses (Berkeley, Irvine, Riverside, San Diego and Santa Cruz) and four national laboratories (Los Alamos, Lawrence Livermore, Lawrence Berkeley and Pacific Northwest). Three private-industry partners are also participating. The large team combines expertise in geophysics, geomechanics, geochemistry, AI and machine learning, Qomi said, as well as the engineering capabilities involved in developing and operating such sustainable energy resources.

"Increasingly, addressing critical challenges that our society faces requires collaboration across disciplines and institutions," said Faryar Jabbari, interim dean of the Samueli School of Engineering at UC Irvine. "Doing great science is a requirement, of course, but we need people who have the talent to put great teams together and lead them. We are fortunate to have in our school colleagues who succeed in this difficult task."

Enhanced geothermal systems that have emerged in recent decades seek to harness energy by circulating fluid through low-permeability rock as much as 2.5 miles underground to extract heat and drive turbines. But the conditions necessary for EGS do not exist everywhere. Geologists and engineers need to find places where the creation and control of fractures and depth can be achieved. They need to understand factors such as stress state, rock properties, water availability, drilling accessibility, the presence of preexisting cracks and seismology characteristics before taking advantage of geothermal heat.

Many of these subsurface properties cannot be observed directly and must be inferred from remote measurements and by comparing sites to similar locations that have proved EGS-worthy. MAESTRO scientists will do this by running complex simulations using AI tools that factor in massive amounts of real-time geophysical observational data and previous learning. They aim to produce models that can predict how cracks will occur during fracturing operations. These simulations can help operators assess the probability of EGS success, a capability that does not exist with current tools.

"A major strength of this project is the unique set of partnerships it creates, which brings together for the first time geophysics, geochemistry, applied math and computation to address this singular national challenge for geothermal energy," said Kevin Rosso, Battelle Fellow and geochemist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

The project will introduce advances in how AI systems learn and reason about physical problems. Like widely adopted navigation applications that get smarter the more they're used, MAESTRO's AI will operate on a self-improving feedback loop in which areas of predictive uncertainty are identified, targeted simulations are run to fill knowledge gaps, and updates are made. A safety mechanism is built into the system to ensure that AI recommendations are physically consistent and trustworthy.

"The next frontier is AI that learns by doing: simulation in the loop. This is exactly what's needed for guiding complex engineering operations like geothermal energy," said Maziar Raissi, UC Riverside associate professor of mathematics.

Another important outcome of the MAESTRO project will be to better understand and control induced seismicity, earthquakes that can result from hydrologic fracturing activities. Technologies and AI tools developed for this purpose may also serve as the basis for early warning of naturally occurring earthquakes.

MAESTRO researcher Emily Brodsky, UC Santa Cruz Distinguished Professor of Earth and planetary sciences, said, "Geothermal power could be a major source of energy in the future, and we are excited to grapple with some of the key hurdles to scaling it up, such as induced seismicity and generalizing behavior between fields."

Working closely with Qomi on the MAESTRO project is co-principal investigator Russ Detwiler, UC Irvine professor of civil and environmental engineering. He said the initiative offers benefits beyond the research lab.

"Professionals in the sustainable energy development industry will ultimately have access to real-time guidance that can reduce the financial risks and time costs of bringing geothermal projects to fruition," Detwiler said. "For communities, continuous underground monitoring will greatly enhance safety in earthquake-prone regions."

He added that MAESTRO will be an open-source project, sharing its digital resources with academic researchers, government policymakers and the general public. "Our tools will be packaged into a free, browser-based tool that anyone can use to explore geothermal potential, assess risk and review data across the country," Detwiler said.

U.S. Rep. Dave Min, whose congressional district encompasses UC Irvine, added: "Orange County has long been at the forefront of innovation, and I am incredibly proud to see UC Irvine leading this important national effort. Harnessing artificial intelligence to safely unlock America's geothermal resources is exactly the kind of forward-looking research that can strengthen our energy security, lower costs and help build a more resilient energy future. This investment is also a testament to the world-class researchers at UCI and across the University of California system, and I look forward to seeing the breakthroughs that come from the MAESTRO project."

About the University of California, Irvine: Founded in 1965, UC Irvine is a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities and is ranked among the nation's top 10 public universities by U.S. News & World Report and the top 100 in the world by Times Higher Education. The campus has produced five Nobel laureates and is known for its academic achievement, premier research, innovation and anteater mascot. Led by Chancellor Howard Gillman, UC Irvine has more than 36,000 students and offers 224 degree programs. It's located in one of the world's safest and most economically vibrant communities and is Orange County's second-largest employer, contributing $7 billion annually to the local economy and $8 billion statewide. For more on UC Irvine, visit www.uci.edu.