Annual report 2010: Present and future resources

This Annual Report 2010 provides a brief overview of some of the work that GEUS has been doing over the year. 2010 was a challenging year, and restrictions on GEUS appropriations meant that not all tasks could be completed as planned and that some investment had to be postponed. However, GEUS successfully ended the year with balanced accounts and achieved most of the objectives we had set. At the beginning of the year, GEUS had a good portfolio of tasks and managed to obtain new, significant projects in research and advisory services that extend into 2011 and 2012.

Over the year there has been increased focus on the international work of GEUS. GEUS enhanced its cooperation with sister organisations within the EU and was involved in a number of projects aimed at increasing the use and usefulness of geology at European level. Establishing common, harmonised data collections was a key task and completion of the OneGeologyEurope project means that users now have access to a comprehensive, digital geological map of Europe. Similarly, databases were set up of energy and mineral resources, as well as mineral resources on the seabed, with associated marine geological data that are relevant for the environment and infrastructure. As part of internationalisation, GEUS hosted the annual meeting of EuroGeoSurveys, attended by directors from 32 European countries, together with participants from the US and the European Environment Agency.

In addition, the international Petroleum Geological Atlas of the Southern Permian Basin Area project was finalised in 2010. This is a compilation of results from 150 years of oil and gas exploration in Denmark and southern and western neighbouring countries - a project costing a total of DKK 50 million.

Globally, GEUS has seen a rapidly growing interest in ‘Danish solutions’, including water resources where, through partnerships, GEUS’ knowledge can form the basis for growth in green exports, especially to the growing Asian economies. GEUS also completed tasks relating to minerals internationally, including improving the conditions for small-scale mining, which provides a livelihood for many poor people in Third World countries. Another international dimension concerns the continental shelf project, for which GEUS in 2010 provided the scientific basis for the submission of material to the United Nations Commission on the Law of the Sea concerning rights to a marine area off the Faroe Islands beyond the 200 nautical mile limit. The task was completed in cooperation with Faroese and Danish institutions and ministries. The important work regarding the three areas around Greenland, where claims may be made, continued throughout the year.

2010 also saw an audit of groundwater monitoring, and GEUS assisted in the preparation of the Government’s Energy Strategy 2050, where GEUS can contribute to solutions relating to fossil and renewable energy sources in the years to come. GEUS priorities were also influenced by adaptation to new hydrological conditions and rising sea levels due to a changing climate. GEUS conducted research and completed tasks on behalf of the Greenland Self Government in order to assess Greenland’s mineral potential, especially in the south-western and southern parts of Greenland. An international workshop was held in connection with the great interest in rare earth metals. Finally, GEUS continued major research projects in the North-East Greenland important for future licensing rounds for oil and gas.

GEUS has the knowledge to solving central problems for society and is therefore looking forward to continuing to assist in the development of present and future resources in the Danish and Greenlandic societies in 2011.