Hemmingway, PhilPhilHemmingwayLong, Michael (Michael M.)Michael (Michael M.)Long2012-06-192012-06-192011 the a2011http://hdl.handle.net/10197/3685Geothermal Energy - Progress and Developments in Ireland and Internationally, May 2011, Kilkenny, IrelandIreland has one of the highest energy dependencies in Europe and as such must adapt quickly to increase renewable energy exploitation levels in order to secure its energy future. A mix of renewable energy technology types (wind, solar, biomass, wave, tidal, geothermal) will be required in order to achieve Ireland’s national renewable energy generation targets. Geothermal (or ground source) energy can have a part to play in this mix. Over the last number of years the School of Civil, Structural & Environmental Engineering in University College Dublin has begun to develop shallow geothermal energy research capabilities in several areas of interest. Early studies involved the investigation of water chemistry and settlement issues at several sites on the Cork docklands. It was concluded that the chemical characteristics of the water contained in the aquifer could hinder the development of open loop geothermal systems in the area, and that settlement may be a potential concern in cases where open loop systems are installed due to the presence of highly compressible alluvium deposits. Subsequent work has involved the development, construction & performance validation of a thermal response testing rig for site thermal characterisation, installation of both domestic and commercial sized energy piles for research purposes and investigation of soil, rock and grout thermal properties using both steady-state and non-steady-state laboratory testing techniques. This paper gives a brief overview of the completed and ongoing work in the School of Civil, Structural & Environmental Engineering.424443 bytesapplication/pdfenGeothermal energyRenewable energyIrelandThermal conductivityThermal response testLaboratory thermal testRenewable energy sources--Research--IrelandGeothermal resources--Research--IrelandGeothermal engineering--Research--IrelandConference Publicationhttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/1.0/