Duration - 01/01/2021 - 30/04/2022
Researchers - Srikumar Roy and Koen Torremans,
Principal Investigator - John Walsh
Funding - University College Dublin and Irish Centre for Research in Applied Geosciences.
Research Partners
Project description
The reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is a major challenge facing society at present. An over-reliance on fossil fuels has
led to the promotion of initiatives to support national and EU sustainable energy policies and an early transition to renewable
energy. Recent work indicates that 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
the sourcing of sustainable energy. The proposed project will investigate the potential for the generation of an on-campus district
heating system from deep geothermal sources capitalising on the favourable geological location of UCD campus and recent technical
and technological developments.
Geothermal energy potential depends largely upon the amount of heat available, which is in turn dependent on the temperature and
volume of water. The installation of geothermal heating requires an advanced and site-specific understanding of the geology, hydraulic
properties, groundwater chemistry and geothermal gradient of any proposed geothermal system. UCD is located on the southern margin
of the Dublin Basin, a ca 2km deep Lower Carboniferous rift basin, and is directly adjacent to the Blackrock-Newcastle Fault, a structure
which is known to localise geothermal waters at 46C. Previous and ongoing work suggests that UCD campus is one of the best locations
in Ireland for a potential low enthalpy geothermal system, circumstances which could underpin UCD’s entry into the cohort of
international universities exploring the potential of, or in some cases already exploiting, on-campus deep geothermal schemes
(e.g. Cornell (USA), Edinburgh (UK), Durham (Ca), Solent (UK)).
Contact: John Walsh
Tel: +353 1 7162169
EMAIL