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GeoLaB: the research infrastructure

The GeoLaB rock laboratory will be built in the crystalline bedrock of the Black Forest or Odenwald. An approximately 1 km long tunnel will open up investigation possibilities at depths of up to around 400 m.


Crystalline rock is the most common reservoir rock in the world, which facilitates the transfer of knowledge to new geothermal projects.

Cross-section of the Upper Rhine Graben and the adjacent Black Forest and Odenwald. In these mountains, the geothermally usable deep rock of the Upper Rhine Graben has been uplifted over millions of years in tectonic processes. GeoLaB is to be built here. In this underground laboratory, processes that are normally hidden deep underground can be studied experimentally under controlled conditions and observed in space and time.

An interdisciplinary research platform

GeoLaB is designed to enable interdisciplinary and cross-process research with computer visualization in a fully digitized laboratory. As a digital twin, the Virtual GeoLaB supports planning and experiments, analysis and communication right from the start.

Collaborations with complementary underground laboratories such as Bedretto or the FORGE geothermal research project create important synergies.

GeoLaB supports a CO2-neutral energy future by serving as a nucleus for research and technology development. The research infrastructure aims to interlink science, business, politics and society.