ENVE works in fields related to the European Green Deal, which include the environment biodiversity, circular economy, zero pollution, climate change, energy, and space policies.
Each day, the ground and the underground of our planet is heated by solar energy and by magma chambers, which are stored underground. This underground geothermal heat can be reached and transformed to heat individual and collective housing, neighbourhoods and urban complexes, or used for industrial processes.
Shallow Geothermal Energy as a technology has been available for several decades but, with the exception of some countries such as Switzerland and Sweden, a massive development in the field has never been achieved. The GRETA project wants to promote the development of a shared knowledge base for the adoption of Near Surface Geothermal Energy (NSGE) systems in the Alps, taking into consideration all technical, economic, environmental and social issues deriving from field observations.
The goal is to trigger an increase in use of Shallow Geothermal Energy and thermal storage in the Alps by providing spatial information of Shallow Geothermal Energy's potential on the basis of efficiency. In addition, the limitations imposed by applying regulations will also be considered; analysing and ideally harmonising country-specific regulations and best-practice will be summarised and drafted as guidelines thus securing the Shallow Geothermal Energy potential's in the energy planning of the alpine regions.
The innovation represented by the approach of project GRETA has been that of promoting the adaption of a low carbon technology, well-established in lowland areas, to the energy needs of the Alpine environment.