The Alpine region must tackle rising energy consumption and, accordingly, reduce CO2 emissions, related mostly to heating needs (mainly from residential and tourism sectors). Renewable energy sources potential to handle this energy requirement has been discussed in some recent studies. However, the opportunity to utilize Near-Surface Geothermal Energy (NSGE) has not yet been properly highlighted. Differences in country-specific regulations and practices currently impede a successful increase of the usage of this technology.
GRETA is a European Union regional development fund project funded by the Alpine Space Program. The aim of GRETA project is to demonstrate the potential of NSGE in the Alpine region and to foster its integration into future energy plans at different administrative levels. It is for this purpose, that transnational-congruent criteria will be defined for the efficient implementation and operation of NSGE systems. The same criteria will be applied to develop a spatial explicit assessment of the potential (technical, economic, environmental, social) of these systems in the Alpine region. Country-specific regulations and practices will be reviewed and best-practice specifications will be summarized into guidelines through close interaction and continuous feedbacks with relevant stakeholders. The outputs of the project will bring to promotion and guidance to the implementation of shallow geothermal energy into policy instruments, e.g., municipalities energy plans and planning bureaus.
Politecnico di Torino – DIATI is partner of the GRETA project and leader of WP4 – Assessment and mapping of Near Surface Geothermal Energy (NSGE) potential.
Technische Universität München (Lead Partner), Triple-S GmbH , Klimabündnis – Climate Alliance – Alianza del Clima , Politecnico di Torino – DIATI , ARPA Valle d’Aosta , Regione Lombardia, EURAC, BRGM , INDURA , GBA , GEOZS , Universität Basel
Publications
- Piga B., Casasso A., Pace F., Godio A., Sethi R., Thermal Impact Assessment of Groundwater Heat Pumps (GWHPs): Rigorous vs. Simplified Models, Energies, 2017, 10(9), 1385 [link]
- Casasso A., Piga B., Sethi R., Prestor J., Pestotnik S., Bottig M., Goetzl G., Zambelli P., D’Alonzo V., Vaccaro R., Capodaglio P., Olmedo M., Baietto A., Maragna C., Boettcher F., and Zoesseder K., The GRETA project: the contribution of near-surface geothermal energy for the energetic self-sufficiency of Alpine regions. Acque Sotterranee 20 (2017). DOI: 10.7343/as-2017-265 [link]
- Casasso A., Pestotnik S., Rajver D., Jež J., Prestor J., Sethi R., Assessment and mapping of the closed-loop shallow geothermal potential in Cerkno (Slovenia), Energy Procedia, Volume 125, September 2017, Pages 335-344 [link]
Conference oral presentations
- Casasso A.*, Capodaglio P., Simonetto F., Sethi R., Economic and environmental benefits of the phase-out of oil heating in Valle d’Aosta, presented in Aosta on November 21st, 2018 (pdf)
- Bucci A.*, Della Valentina S., Pescarmona S., Casasso A., Sethi R., Insights into numerical simulations of leakage through Borehole Heat Exchangers (BHEs) – GIT-SI conference, Sarzana, Italy, 11-13 June 2018
- Rivoire M., Piga B., Casasso A.*, Sethi R., Dynamic simulation of Ground-Coupled Heat Pumps (GCHPs): insights on the economic convenience and on the environmental benefits, European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2018 Vienna | Austria | 8–13 April 2018
- Della Valentina S., Rivoire M., Casasso M., Capodaglio P., Spinolo F., Zambelli P., Shallow geothermal energy in the Alpine Space: preliminary results from the GRETA project – Hydrogeological knowledge at regional/local scale and water well/heat exchange project case histories: towards European standardisation conference, Milan, 18 October 2017
- Casasso A., Della Valentina S., Di Feo A. F., Sethi R., Guglielminotti R., Cavorsin R., Baietto A., Capodaglio P., Ground Source Heat Pumps in Aosta Valley (NW Italy): assessment of existing systems and planning tools for future installations, convegno GIT – Società Geologica Italiana, Gavorrano (Grosseto), 12-14 June 2017
- Piga B., Pace F., Casasso A., Sethi R., Simulazione numerica dell’impatto termico in falda degli impianti geotermici a circuito aperto, convegno GIT – Società Geologica Italiana, Gavorrano (Grosseto), 12-14 June 2017
- Casasso A., Piga B., Sethi R., Progetto GRETA: il contributo della geotermia a bassa entalpia per l’autosufficienza energetica dell’area alpina. GEOFLUID, Piacenza, 7 October 2016
Conference posters
- Casasso A., Sethi R., G.POT: a method for the assessment and mapping of the near-surface geothermal potential, EGU General Assembly 2017, April 2017 [abstract]
Polito outputs
https://areeweb.polito.it/ricerca/groundwater/zip/interferenze_impianti_GSHP.zip
