These strange trucks that you may encounter on the roads of France will actually be used for scientific purposes!

Geothermal energy is a resource that is currently little exploited. However, this offers several advantages.

The purpose of their existence

To support the potential of this energy, these trucks are owned by the company Smart seismic solutions, which has been commissioned by the state, has a very special mission. The latter is called “Geoscan”. Its goal is to map the basements to determine hot water reserves. The vehicles will be on Ile-de-France roads until April 4.

The vibrations occur every ten meters for 40 seconds. In total, the trucks are used for eight hours. In Ile-de-France, 280 kilometers distributed over more than a hundred villages will be bulldozed during this month of work.

The goal of this mission is to uncover new deep geothermal energy sources in the west and south of the region. In fact, these areas have so far been little explored, while Ile-de-France hosts the largest European concentration of geothermal facilities.

How trucks work

This is not news to anyone, the state wants to encourage renewable heat production. This is why vibrating trucks are so popular in France.

But then, how do they act? You should know that vibrations (sound waves) emitted by trucks spread throughout the basement. Every change in the rock will be accompanied by a portion of the vibration that rises to the surface, forming a kind of echo.

This sound will then be recorded by sensors placed on the surface and then converted into images of the Earth. Geophysicists working on the project compare this to a “Ultrasound” from Earth.

The rise of geothermal energy

This energy derives heat from the Earth's crust and can be used for heating or even to generate electricity. Its assets are renewable and inexhaustible. The use of geothermal energy is expected to become widespread soon.

In fact, the instability of conventional energy prices and decarbonization encourage their use. There are two types of geothermal energy: the so-called superficial (from a few meters to 200) and the so-called deep, which ranges from 200 to 3,000 meters in depth.

The final restoration of this initiative is usually planned from July 2025.

source : despite