Life Cycle Assessment and Scenario Analyses of an operating geothermal Heat Project in the Southern German Molasse Basin

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Uhrmann, Hannah ; Heberle, Florian ; Brüggemann, Dieter:
Life Cycle Assessment and Scenario Analyses of an operating geothermal Heat Project in the Southern German Molasse Basin.
2023
Veranstaltung: 36th International Conference on Efficiency, Cost, Optimization, Simulation and Environmental Impact of Energy Systems (ECOS 2023) , 25.-30.06.2023 , Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain.
(Veranstaltungsbeitrag: Kongress/Konferenz/Symposium/Tagung , Paper )
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52202/069564-0268

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Abstract

In order to mitigate climate change, the expansion of renewable sources especially in the fossil-dominated
heating sector is necessary. Geothermal sources represent a promising low-carbon alternative for heat supply.
In this study, a Life Cycle Assessment of an operating deep geothermal heat plant in the Southern German
Molasse Basin is conducted according to ISO 14040 and 14044. The plant utilizes a hydro-geothermal source
and consists of a total of two production wells and one injection well with thermal water temperatures of up to
107 °C and an output of 16.7 MW. For peak load and redundancy, three oil boilers with a total capacity of
17 MW are installed. The heat plant is connected to a 48.5 km district heating network for the supply of 1800
customers. As functional unit 1 kWh net heat at the customer is chosen. For the impact categories Global
Warming Potential (GWP), fossil resource scarcity and terrestrial ecotoxicity are considered. The
environmental impact amounts to 78.5 g CO 2-eq./kWh, 29.2 g oil-eq./kWh and 399.0 g 1,4-DCB/kWh,
respectively. In addition to the main results, selected scenarios have been analyzed with regard to the potential
of switching the electricity mix and the peak load coverage between oil, natural gas and biomethane. The
results show that switching to a renewable electricity mix leads to the biggest reduction with 57.8 % for the
GWP.