Toward standardized protocols for geothermal potential assessment: a multi-scale, multi-physics workflow for deep resources

Assessing geothermal systems requires a standardized approach, which actually remains underdeveloped. This study aims to overcome this lack, starting to review and discuss the most widely utilized methods and open-source tools for underground characterization and geothermal potential assessment at regional to continental scales, establishing a workflow applicable everywhere, whether with extensive subsurface data (brownfield) or less-explored or unexplored regions (greenfield). By integrating multi-scale geological, petrophysical, and geophysical constraints with robust thermal modelling strategies, this workflow offers a consistent framework for estimating geothermal potential and facilitating comparative analysis across different regions, in order to facilitate the geothermal exploitation feasibility analyses.