Contribution to Winter Service
Exploration of the Potential of Geothermal Energy as a Contribution to Winter Service
Contact
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
Year of Completion
2013