Contribution to Winter Service

 

Exploration of the Potential of Geothermal Energy as a Contribution to Winter Service

Logos of project participants

Contact

Photo of Dr.-Ing. Dirk Kemper © Copyright: ISAC

Name

Dirk Kemper

Head of Traffic Management Department

Phone

work
+49 241 80 25225

Email

E-Mail
 

Winter road conditions lead to traffic obstructions that can be reduced, but not entirely prevented, by (partly preventive) operations of the winter road maintenance service.

It is possible that a complementary use of geothermal energy (geothermal heat) may reduce the organizational challenges for the winter road maintenance service.
Existing experience with such systems will be evaluated and expanded to include findings from the monitoring of ongoing projects.
The prerequisites and effects of the use of geothermal energy in roads are examined, taking into account economic, macroeconomic and ecological aspects.

A comparison of conventional winter road maintenance to de-icing spray systems and the use of geothermal energy clarifies the advantages and disadvantages of the methods.

In case of a positive result for geothermal energy, a decision catalog for the installation of geothermal systems is derived.

 

Client

Federal Highway Research Institute

Cooperation

Durth Roos Consulting GmbH
Geowatt AG

Processors

Dipl.-Ing. Isabelle Bach

Dr.-Ing. Dirk Kemper

Year of Completion

2013