Problems, Solutions, Pros and Cons of Geothermal GeoEnvironment

Carbon dioxide has been proven to be the root cause of climate change events such as global warming, extreme weather, and mass extinctions – which are threatening the planet as we know it. With UMass being the leading state institution for carbon emissions, Chancellor Subbaswamy created the Carbon Mitigation Task Force, which devised a plan for our campus to reach carbon net neutrality by 2032. The biggest component of this plan is to install a massive geothermal heat exchange (GHX) facility at UMass Amherst. Our team chose to investigate the dangers to our natural and built environments from such a GHX facility. The three problems that we chose to focus on were ground uplift due to drilling, cross-contamination of groundwater due to cracks/gaps in the geothermal grout, and determining the most environmentally friendly antifreeze solution to use within the system. Plausible solutions at UMass to mitigate these inherent risks are rotary drilling with a ground anchorage system, a low permeability grout mixture known as “mix 111”, and propylene glycol as an eco-friendly antifreeze solution. The resistance forces of ground anchors and rotary drilling will limit the uplift of the ground to mitigate possible damage to the $30 million basketball center, adjacent to the installation site. The low permeability of “mix 111” and the low health hazard ratings of propylene glycol, will mitigate the risk of contaminating the Lawrence aquifer, a local drinking water source to UMass.