Geothermal energy: an under-exploited tool to improve and support the green transition. Development evaluation in the Southern Apennines (Italy)

The urgent need to diversify Europe’s renewable energy mix and reduce dependency on fossil fuels has drawn increasing attention to geothermal resources beyond the traditionally exploited volcanic provinces. Italy, despite its pioneering role in geothermal development, has yet to assess the potential of its non-volcanic geothermal systems. Among these, the Campania–Lucania sector of the Southern Apennines represents a promising but underexplored domain, where hydrocarbon exploration has revealed deep-seated thermal anomalies in fractured carbonate reservoirs of the Apulian Platform. This thesis investigates the deep geothermal potential of this region integrating geological, geophysical, and geomechanical data within a unified three-dimensional (3D) modeling framework.