| Title | Direct Use of Geothermal Resources for Sustainable Circular Food Production – Results from the Geofood Project |
|---|---|
| Authors | THORARINSDOTTIR, R., OLAFSDOTTIR, K., UNNTHORSSON, R., BOEDIJN, A., BAEZA, E., VAN DE VEN, R., ESPINAL, C., TURNSEK, M., PAVLAKOVIC, B. and PALSSON, O. P |
| Year | 2020 |
| Conference | World Geothermal Congress |
| Keywords | Geothermal, direct use, food production, sustainability, Geofood |
| Abstract | The Geofood project showcases the opportunities of direct use of geothermal energy to increase sustainable food production. The overall purposes of Geofood are to 1) develop a geothermal well optimization model that considers greenhouses and fish farms for heat extraction 2) to design and build a research system to validate such model and 3) to design and optimize a demonstration plant with direct use of geothermal energy for circular food production techniques. The Geofood project also plans to disseminate the results to other geothermal areas in Europe and beyond. Geothermal energy is already used several places in Europe as a sustainable energy source for food production, including horticulture, aquaculture and food processing. However, there are still substantial opportunities to increase the direct use of geothermal resources for food production and also to pave the way for circular food production techniques. In this study recent developments in aquaponics (the combination of aquaculture and hydroponics) are used as an example on how effluents from one production can be used as a resource for another, thus mimicking nature and minimizing environmental impact. The results discuss the current direct use of geothermal energy for food production in Europe, describe the recent development and future perspectives of aquaponics and other novel food production techniques and reveal the potential for future food production in Europe based on direct use of geothermal resources. Acknowledgements The Geofood project is supported through the ERANET Cofund GEOTHERMICA project (Project no. 731117), from the the European Commission, The Research Council in Iceland (Rannis), Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) and the Ministry of Infrastructure in Slovenia. The consortium partners include Wageningen University & Research, LandIng Aquaculture, Ammerlaan (Netherlands), University of Iceland, Samraekt (Iceland), University of Maribor and the Municipality of Brezice (Slovenia). |