Making ground-source heat a cost-effective alternative to fossil fuels has long been a dream for countries that depend on energy imports and need to cut their carbon dioxide emissions.
A team of businesses and researchers in Slovenia and Serbia set out to develop the heat pump technology that would make this dream a reality.
The chaos caused by a volcanic eruption in Iceland April 2010 and the dispersal of its ash cloud across European airspace was a reminder of the tremendous forces of nature that exist below the ground. Not all subterranean heat sources have such sinister power, however. Across Europe, there are plentiful sources of geothermal energy: heat stored in the ground which can be tapped to provide a renewable and inexhaustible energy supply. Using the right technology to access this power at varying depths and temperatures, we can use this heat to reduce our dependence on imported and climate-damaging fossil fuels.
Until recently, the technology to exploit geothermal energy in a cost-effective way has remained under-developed. However, in response to the growing economic and policy pressures to cut CO2 emissions and improve energy security, one company set out to change this state of affairs, with remarkable results.
The small spa-town of Lendava, Slovenia, draws on a deep geothermal well 1,500 metres below the ground to supply its district heating network. The 70 degrees Celsius water is used to heat schools, sports centres, shops, businesses and apartment buildings. However, once used, the water is still around 50 degrees Celsius: too cool to re-use for space heating but too warm to re-inject into the well (or dispose of in the local environment).
(ScienceDaily)
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