1. General information
2. Objectives of the intervention
Goals of the intervention
Main objective: Decrease soil contamination which improves groundwater quality and allow the urban developments around the central station including construction activities (ref. 1)
Additional objectives:
- Providing sustainable energy (ref. 1, 3)
- CO2 reduction, as fossil fuels are no longer required to cool/heat buildings (ref. 1)
- Optimize monitoring of contamination in order to research the effects of ATES on soil decontamination (scientific goal) (ref. 1, 3)
- Cost reduction (as traditional groundwater contamination is more expensive) because the organic decontamination of groundwater takes a very long time because the contamination is unevenly spread and contaminated groundwater is not mixed with decontaminated ground water, which slows down the process. Because the ATES system accelerates the organic decontamination process, decontaminated groundwater no longer needs to be pumped and decontaminated which is very costly because a ground water pump should run for 20-30 years (ref, 1-4).
Additional objectives:
- Providing sustainable energy (ref. 1, 3)
- CO2 reduction, as fossil fuels are no longer required to cool/heat buildings (ref. 1)
- Optimize monitoring of contamination in order to research the effects of ATES on soil decontamination (scientific goal) (ref. 1, 3)
- Cost reduction (as traditional groundwater contamination is more expensive) because the organic decontamination of groundwater takes a very long time because the contamination is unevenly spread and contaminated groundwater is not mixed with decontaminated ground water, which slows down the process. Because the ATES system accelerates the organic decontamination process, decontaminated groundwater no longer needs to be pumped and decontaminated which is very costly because a ground water pump should run for 20-30 years (ref, 1-4).
Quantitative targets
Total area of 90 ha of development includes the Bio Washing Machine (ref. 1)
Achieve contamination reduction in soil of depth 5-50 meters (ref. 8)
CO2 reduction of 6.000 tonnes/year (ref. 10)
Expected effects of ATES: reduction of VOC mass of 40% in subsurface (ref. 10)
7 million m3 ground water subtraction annually (ref. 11)
Cost reduction of 20 million euros (ref. 11)
Total amount of decontaminated that needs to be targeted is 50 million m3 (ref. 11)
Achieve contamination reduction in soil of depth 5-50 meters (ref. 8)
CO2 reduction of 6.000 tonnes/year (ref. 10)
Expected effects of ATES: reduction of VOC mass of 40% in subsurface (ref. 10)
7 million m3 ground water subtraction annually (ref. 11)
Cost reduction of 20 million euros (ref. 11)
Total amount of decontaminated that needs to be targeted is 50 million m3 (ref. 11)
Monitoring indicators defined
Mainly water quality indicators: oxygen (mg/l), EC (μS/cm), RedOx (mV) and pH (ref. 8)
Chemical substances, mainly chlorylcarbonhydrates (μg/l) (ref. 8)
Chemical substances, mainly chlorylcarbonhydrates (μg/l) (ref. 8)
Sustainability challenge(s) addressed
Climate change adaptation: What were the goals of the NBS?
Climate change adaptation: What activities are implemented to realize the conservation goals and targets?
Please specify "other Type of NBS project"
Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (ref. 1)
Implementation activities
ATES systems in new buildings surrounding Central Station of Utrecht (ref. 3)
Stimulating biological attenuation (by means of construction and addition of organic substances) (ref. 3)
Placement of 90 measurement tubes in Central Station area which measure the contamination concentration and bacterial population (ref. 3)
Groundwater cleaning using energy efficient machinery (ref. 1)
Stimulating biological attenuation (by means of construction and addition of organic substances) (ref. 3)
Placement of 90 measurement tubes in Central Station area which measure the contamination concentration and bacterial population (ref. 3)
Groundwater cleaning using energy efficient machinery (ref. 1)
Type of NBS project
3. NBS domains, ES and scale
4. Governance and financing
5. Innovation
Type of innovation
Please specify technological innovation
ATES system, which provides sustainable energy by making use of the temperature of ground water. In summer, hot water from houses is stored in the ground water and in winter, this relatively hot ground water is pumped through the buildings to heat the buildings. In summer, ground water is relatively cold and pumped through to cool the buildings. As a result of the pumping mechanism, contaminated ground water is in motion which accelerates the decontamination process of bacteria in the soil. [3,4] Thereby, it is an integrated approach of decontamination and providing sustainable energy [3]
Novelty level of the innovation
Please specify novelty level of the innovation
It combines different techniques, particularly ATES and contamination which are implemented as synergy of providing sustainable energy and contamination (they support each other). The ATES makes the decontamination of ground water 10 times faster because the hot-cold storage increases speed of organic attenuation [3,4] The idea to combine soil energy with decontamination is not new, but applying this principle on a large scale in a dynamic urban environment is exceptional. [15]
Replicability/Transferability
Please specify Replicability/Transferability
The finding that there is a potential synergy between ATES and ground water contamination resulted in policy adaptation regarding ATES. At first, ATES was only applied to areas with uncontaminated ground water, but since the Bio Washing Machine it can also be applied to areas with contaminated ground water and the targets of temperature of ground water where ATES could be applied are also adjusted [4]
