Life cycle assessment of shallow to medium-depth geothermal heating and cooling networks in the State of Geneva

Geothermal heating and cooling from a depth of 10-3'500 meters have considerable decarbonization potential but understudied life-cycle environmental impacts. We quantified the life-cycle impacts of six heating and cooling configurations from shallow to medium-depth geothermal wells with connected, decentralized heat pumps and district heating and cooling in the State of Geneva. Shallower systems with connected heat pumps have better environmental performance than systems with district heating, whereas shallow systems with free cooling perform best for cooling. These environmental impacts are lower than those of fossil fuels, except for mineral resource scarcity, especially with decentralized heat pumps and free cooling.

Automated summary

This study quantifies the life-cycle environmental impacts of geothermal heating and cooling technologies in the State of Geneva, revealing that shallow systems have better environmental performance compared to systems with connected heat pumps, with shallow systems with free cooling performing best for cooling.