Duration - 01/05/2018 - 31/08/2021
Researchers - Srikumar Roy and Koen Torremans,
UCD Principal Investigator - John Walsh
Funding - Multi-institutional project funded through Geothermica, with co-funding through national institutions
including the Geological Survey Ireland.
Research Partners
Project description
The need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is an important issue facing society at present. Appropriately designed, district-scale
geothermal heating systems can satisfy society’s “energy trilemma”, by providing a secure energy supply that is economical and
environmentally sustainable. The ability to use geothermal resources to generate heat in urban areas where the demand is greatest
has the potential to significantly reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, and to support national and EU sustainable energy policies.
Potential deep geothermal resources in challenging, lower-enthalpy EU settings remain poorly understood and largely untapped. The
GEO-URBAN project aims to explore the potential for low enthalpy geothermal energy in urban environments. The project will focus on
two target locations – Dublin City Centre, Ireland and Vallès, Catalonia, Spain – and will provide a feasibility analysis for the commercial
development of deep geothermal resources in these regions. Challenges to be overcome in these areas by GEO-URBAN include low- to
medium-enthalpy geothermal settings, geological challenges due to the fractured nature of the bedrock in both regions (fractured
limestone and metamorphic basement in Dublin, and fractured granite in Vallès), and logistical challenges for geothermal exploration
due to the urban environment.
GEO-URBAN will evaluate novel geophysical exploration and modelling techniques for urban areas, which will be applied at both test
locations. Geophysical data collected during GEO-URBAN will feed into a commercialisation strategy for the exploitation of deep
geothermal resources in challenging urban environments, which will draw upon existing knowledge and experience from partners in
Denmark, where the deep geothermal heat industry is more established. This knowledge transfer will be reciprocated by the
cross-transfer of detailed geological and hydrological data on fractured limestone lithologies in Ireland, which are of
interest as ultra-deep geothermal targets in Denmark and elsewhere in Europe.
Significant local stakeholder involvement will ensure that GEO-URBAN exploration activities align with local sustainable energy plans
and district heating strategies. Furthermore, policy recommendations to assist the sustainable exploitation of deep geothermal energy
resources in each region will be outlined. The overall objective of GEO-URBAN is to identify the geothermal resources available in two
challenging urban locations and to demonstrate a commercialisation strategy that has the potential to be adapted in other similar
locations, thus advancing geothermal energy from a TRL 5 to a TRL 7 in the target areas.
Contact: John Walsh
Tel: +353 1 716 2169
Email