RWTH Hosts Conference on ‘Environment, Energy, and Raw Materials’ to Explore Vital Topics

Artificial intelligence in geosciences.


More than 100 experts met from September 27th to 29th, 2023 for the conference “Environment, Energy and Raw Materials – A Turning Point in Energy and Raw Material Supply. Opportunities for the meadow industry”. This took place at RWTH Aachen and at Energeticon Alsdorf. The German Mining Association and the RWTH Institute for Mining, Mining Damage Science and Geophysics in Mining under the direction of Professor Axel Preuße had invited.

All processes relating to the supply of raw materials and energy, underground storage as well as decommissioning and storage must be designed to be safe, environmentally and socially conscious, transparent and efficient. The thematic focus of the conference was in particular the possibilities of artificial intelligence in geosciences as well as hydrogen and energy storage in the mining context.

Professor Ulrich Rüdiger, Rector of RWTH Aachen, and Professor Peter Kukla, Dean of the RWTH Faculty of Georesources and Materials Engineering, first gave a welcoming speech. This was followed by lectures by State Secretary Dr. Franziska Brantner from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection, Dr. Alexandra Renz, Head of State Planning in the Ministry of Economics, Innovation, Digitalization and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, and Dr. Martin Wedig, Managing Director of the Association for Raw Materials and Mining eV, presented the possibilities of artificial intelligence in geosciences by Professor Florian Wellmann from the RWTH Chair of Applied Geophysics 1: Computational Geoscience, Geothermal Energy and Reservoir Geophysics.

Representatives of federal ministries, science and the raw materials industry also discussed the consequences of the planned amendment to mining law for the German supply of raw materials. Dr. Klaus Freytag, Lausitz representative of the Prime Minister of Brandenburg, moderated the discussion.