Direct geothermal energy: harnessing an emerging technology

为了减轻气候变化的影响，对温室气体(GHG)排放量低的可再生能源技术的需求正迅速成为全球优先事项。直接地热系统使用浅层地下作为供暖和制冷建筑物的热源和接收器，使用地下热交换器(GHEs)和热泵。由于澳大利亚91%的电力来自化石燃料，用地热供暖和制冷系统取代普通供暖和制冷系统可以减少高达75%的能源消耗，从而减少温室气体排放。该项目旨在开发新的全尺度物理和数值模型，以便能够研究GHE配置和间歇使用对效率的影响，并将导致改进现有的糟糕和稀缺的设计技术。

To mitigate the impacts of climate change, the demand for renewable energy technologies with low greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is rapidly becoming a global priority. Direct geothermal systems use shallow ground as a heat source and sink for heating and cooling buildings, using ground heat exchangers (GHEs) and heat pumps. Substituting common heating and cooling systems with geothermal ones can reduce energy consumption by up to 75 per cent and thus greenhouse gas emissions, since 91 per cent of electricity comes from fossil fuels in Australia. This project aims to develop new full scale physical and numerical models which will allow studying the effects of GHE configuration and intermittent use on efficiency and which will lead towards improving the poor and scarce existing design techniques.