FAQ
Below you 'll find answers to most commonly asked questions of the use of geothermal energy in heating and cooling networks.
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General Questions
Three
main types of geothermal technologies may consider for district heating and
cooling systems: Direct use geothermal, Deep and enhanced geothermal systems
(EGS) and Ground source heat pumps. EGS can be decribed as engineered
reservoirs that have been created to extract economical amounts of heat from
low permeability and/or porosity geothermal resources. Schulte et al. (2010)
defined the typical geological settings for EGS, varying from igneous (e.g.
Iceland), metamorphic (e.g. Lardarello, Italy), magmatic (e.g. Soultz, France)
and sedimentary (e.g. Groß Schönebeck and Horstberg, Germany).
Schulte T,
Zimmermann G, Vuataz F, Portier S, Tischner T, Junker R, Jatho R, Huenges E:
Enhancing geothermal reservoirs. In Geothermal energy systems. Edited by: Huenges E. Wiley, Weinheim;
2010
Geothermal
energy use for heating and cooling is supported by the third generation of DH
systems, which was introduced in the 1970s and took a major share of all
extensions in the 1980s and beyond (Lund, H., et al, 2014). Today 4th and 5th
generation of district heating networks is available. The 4th generation of
district heating networks is characterized by lower temperatures and can allow
easier integration of cost-efficient renewable energy technologies (like solar
energy or geothermal heat pumps) which are not linked to combustion processes.
A further division of 4th generation systems can be made between so-called low
temperature district heating (LTDH) and ultra-low temperature district heating
(ULTDH). LTDH networks are usually characterized by supply temperatures in the
range 50–70 ◦C, while ULTDH networks have supply temperatures below 50 ◦C.
Marco Pellegrini and Augusto Bianchini, The
Innovative Concept of Cold District Heating Networks: A Literature Review,
Energies, 2018
More
than 25% of the EU population lives in areas directly suitable for Geothermal District
Heating. There is a large potential, with GeoDH systems in operation in 22
European countries. Geothermal generation has its roots in Europe.
http://geodh.eu
Geothermal
district heating and cooling systems can be found here
Our
COST Action Geothermal-DHC will provide information on additional case studies
not included in this map
Geothermal
district heating (GDH) is the use of geothermal energy to provide heat to
buildings and industry through a distribution network. Geothermal energy can be
utilized for space heating and cooling, domestic hot water supply, and industrial
process heat requirements by district heating using peaking stations, a
distribution system, central pumping stations, and in-building equipment (heat
exchangers, circulation pumps, etc.).
Ibrahim Dincer, Hasan Ozcan, in Comprehensive
Energy Systems, 2018
Geothermal
energy systems can provide environmentally friendly, reliable and affordable
hot water for DH systems (Tester et al., 2006; Thorsteinsson, 2008; Reber et
al., 2014). They have a small land area footprint, are scalable in size and
emit few to zero greenhouse gas emissions. Further, they utilize low-tech
technology and offer dispatchable baseload capacity and cascading
opportunities.
J.W. Tester, ... M.Z. Lukawski, in Advanced
District Heating and Cooling (DHC) Systems, 2016
Geothermal
district heating systems are classified into two types depending on the
utilization of the geothermal energy. If it is used indirectly by transferring
the geothermal heat to the secondary system via heat exchangers, the district
heating system is called the primary system. If the geothermal energy is
utilized directly in the house heating systems, the district system is called the
secondary system.
Ibrahim Dincer, Muhammad F. Ezzat, in
Comprehensive Energy Systems, 2018.