Net Zero Geothermal Research for District Infrastructure Engineering (NetZero GeoRDIE)

英国致力于成为一个低碳经济体，到2050年将温室气体排放减少到净零。要做到这一点，就需要燃料转换，例如从化石燃料转向可再生能源。在英国，2018年住宅和公共部门的主要排放源是使用天然气供暖。由于消费者的热需求的多样性，随时间/季节和大小而变化，没有单一的方法可以提供最佳的解决方案。在英国，地热被广泛认为有潜力对脱碳供暖做出重大的区域贡献，但目前深层地热和热泵仅占可再生能源的5.2%。该项目将研究在传统开环地热系统不可行的情况下，使用闭环单井地热系统作为可行的替代方案。它特别讨论了将钻探的井用于其他目的的可能性，这些井可能无法达到其最初的目的，但可以作为地热能源的来源，从而减轻了一些建造成本。独特的是，该研究将利用纽卡斯尔市中心现有的1.6公里深的钻孔和邻近的大型仪器建筑作为研究设施，并将研究作为整个能源系统方法的一部分。建模将把新城市建筑的供暖/制冷需求与对单井地热系统性能的理解结合起来，从而满足这些需求。该项目将解决以下基本挑战：1)热提取和储存；2)将地热能整合到整个能源系统的工程挑战，以及3)闭环系统的监管和法律含义以及随后的责任。拟议的研究旨在减轻与英国深层地热能供暖和制冷相关的技术和经济风险，从而促进其未来的采用，以实现零碳目标。

The UK is committed to become a low-carbon economy, with a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. To do this will require fuel switching, for example from fossil fuel power to renewable energy sources. In the UK the main source of emissions from the residential and public sector in 2018 was the use of natural gas for heating. Due to the diversity of heat demand by consumers, which varies with time/season and in magnitude, no single approach will provide the optimum solution. Geothermal heat has been widely recognised to have the potential to make significant regional contributions to decarbonising heating in the UK, but currently deep geothermal and heat pumps account for just 5.2% of renewable energy sources. This project will investigate the use of closed loop single well geothermal systems as a viable alternative in scenarios where traditional open loop geothermal systems are not feasible. It particularly addresses the possibility of using wells drilled for other purposes, that might have failed in their original objectives, as sources of geothermal energy, thus mitigating some of the costs of their construction. Uniquely, the research will use, in Newcastle city centre, an existing 1.6km deep borehole and adjacent large instrumented building as a research facility, and integrate the research as part of whole energy system approach. Modelling will couple the heating/cooling needs of new urban buildings with an understanding of the performance of a single well geothermal system so that those demands are met. The project will address fundamental challenges in 1) heat abstraction and storage; 2) the engineering challenges of integrating geothermal energy to whole energy systems, and 3) regulatory and legal implications of closed loop systems and subsequent liabilities. The proposed research sets out to mitigate the technical and economic risks associated with deep UK geothermal energy for heating and cooling, and so to facilitate its future adoption to enable zero carbon targets to be reached.