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Talks and Poster Presentations (with Proceedings-Entry):

V. Ostermann:
"GEO-Pot: Geothermal Energy Potential in Austria";
Talk: 21st European Young Geotechnical Enigneers Conference, Rotterdam, Niederlande; 2011-09-04 - 2011-09-07; in: "Geotechnical Engineering: New Horizons", IOS Press BV, Amsterdam (2011), ISBN: 978-1-60750-807-6; 333 - 338.



English abstract:
Currently the keywords geothermal energy, renewable energy, passive house technology and energy efficiency are evident in connection with global warming and climatic change. They serve for an efficient and sustainable utilization of energy resources for heating and cooling of houses. In the context of renewable energy sources geothermal energy is often ignored as it is difficult to evaluate, although it contains by far an immense potential compared to other energy sources. A sustainable energy policy demands a comparable data base to form the basis for an impartial evaluation of energy sources.
To overcome this deficiency a comprehensive study was done to determine the effective geothermal energy potential for Austria by a group of geotechnical engineers, geologists, system engineers, facility managers, infrastructure experts, structural engineers as well as spatial planers.

The aim of the project was the nationwide investigation and demonstration of the applicable potential of shallow geothermal energy for heating buildings. In the GEO-Pot project the following geothermal energy absorber systems have been included in order to utilize the shallow geothermal energy potential up to a maximum depth of 100 m below surface:
. vertical heat absorbers, e.g. geothermal probes,
. thermally activated building foundation elements like energy bottom plates, energy piles and energy diaphragm walls,
. special absorber elements for tunnelling like energy anchors and energy geotextiles.

A basic grid was generated for the entire Austrian territory to guarantee an explicit calculation. The minimum cell size was chosen to 250 x 250 mē. Consequently, the geothermal potential for shallow geothermal energy applications was analysed for every cell separately.
The input values to analyse the potential for every cell were:
. the reclaimable areas and areas to be excluded,
. the climatic conditions and altitude,
. the natural geothermal availability,
. typical building patterns and thermal demand,
. types of geothermal energy plants,
. cost and economical analyses.

In the scope of the study GEO-Pot a nationwide grid-based dataset has been generated for the entire Austrian territory. The results of the study show that it is possible to provide heating from geothermal energy in most of the populated areas. Only in central residential areas with a high concentration of buildings and a lack of open areas, a full coverage cannot be achieved.
Finally, the study shows that there is huge potential to save primary energy and minimize CO2-emissions by utilizing geothermal energy all over Austria.

Keywords:
Geothermal energy, potential, database, renewable energy, absorber technology


Electronic version of the publication:
http://publik.tuwien.ac.at/files/PubDat_198780.pdf


Created from the Publication Database of the Vienna University of Technology.