Abstract
The growth in population and energy requirement is a challenge for stakeholders in huge cities such as Buenos Aires. Sustainably meeting this demand is the goal demanded by society for this new century. Shallow geothermal energy (SGE) is a renewable energy very valuable for air conditioning. However, it is a great unknown. To overcome this initial barrier and make it known, the geothermal potential of the Matanza-Riachuelo Basin, where the City of Buenos Aires is located, were calculated.
To estimate of shallow geothermal potential, it is necessary to define the characteristics and behavior of the aquifers under exploitation. The heat transport equation in porous media was used based on geological and hydrogeological models. The input parameters needed for this estimate were obtained from an exhaustive geological data model and a hydrogeological numerical model for the Matanza-Riachuelo Basin. The required parameters are mainly the groundwater velocity, the lithological description, the thickness, and the thermal ground parameters (volumetric heat capacity, thermal conductivity and thermal dispersivity) of each hydrogeological formation.
As a result, maps of shallow geothermal energy potential and the environmental impact were obtained. The map reflects the viability of the exploitation of SGE in the City of Buenos Aires, showing high values of shallow geothermal potential for a single borehole heat exchanger of 100 m depth (up to 6 kW). The thermal impact into the aquifer is also evaluated as the length of the thermal plume, getting values less than 30 m.
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Notes
- 1.
https://www.estadisticaciudad.gob.ar/eyc/?p=29130 . Consulted on August 10th, 2021
- 2.
https://www.estadisticaciudad.gob.ar/eyc/?p=50330. Consulted on August 11st, 2022.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by PICT 2017 – 0385 of the Argentinian National Agency of Research and by the Ibero-American Programme on Science and Technology for Development (CYTED – Programa de Ciencia y Tecnología para el Desarrollo) under project 719RT0585.
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Alcaraz, M., Vives, L. (2023). Shallow Geothermal Energy Resources and Thermal Impacts in Buenos Aires City, Argentina. In: Espinoza-Andaluz, M., Melo Vargas, E., Santana Villamar, J., Encalada-Dávila, Á. (eds) Congress on Research, Development, and Innovation in Renewable Energies. Green Energy and Technology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-26813-7_7
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