Monitoring the impact of intensive shallow geothermal energy use on groundwater temperatures in a residential neighborhood

Abstract The use of shallow geothermal energy increasingly receives attention as a suitable alternative to fossil fuel-based space heating and cooling, warm water provision, as well as for seasonal heat storage throughout Europe. With the advent of shallow geothermal energy use on large scales, a vivid discussion of potential ecological and economic impacts has arisen but actual field data are scarce. An intensive groundwater temperature-monitoring program over a period of 3 years with consecutive measurements was, therefore, initiated at a residential neighborhood in the city of Cologne, Germany, under intense shallow geothermal use. The aim of the monitoring program was to overcome the existing data scarcity by pinpointing the effects of the intensive thermal use of the subsurface on groundwater temperatures and to foster understanding of urban groundwater temperature evolution. Results show that even though energy demands of the individual houses and energy extraction rates of the shallow geothermal systems were comparably small in this case, the accumulation of shallow geothermal users had a measurable impact on overall groundwater temperatures.