Líffræðifélag Íslands
Líffræðiráðstefnan 2015

Erindi/veggspjald / Talk/poster E83

Enhanced plant growth from an outdoor intensive shallow bottom heat system using waste geothermal hot water and steam condensate

R. Dell (1,2,4), C.S. Wei (1), W. Foley (2,4), N. Mitchell (2), Runar Unnthorsson (3)

1. The Cooper Union, 2. The Center for Innovation an Applied Technology, 3. Univ. of Iceland 4. Keilir Inst. Tech

Kynnir / Presenter: Robert Dell

Tengiliður / Corresponding author: Robert Dell (rdell@cooper.edu)

The authors have developed and have been testing an outdoor intensive shallow bottom heat system that produces a controllable geothermal micro climate soil test bed since 2008. Waste geothermal hot water and steam condensate warms the soil throughout the year with a 25 cm pipe spacing similar to a heated sidewalk. These heated gardens have been installed at the Agricultural University of Iceland in Hveragerdi, the Keilir Institute of Technology and HNLFI clinic. The results confirm the survival of some out of zone cultivars, including varieties tomatoes, zucchinis and oregano that produced a harvestable crop. Plant growth is increased by 20% and more in many cultivars and there is an extension of the growing season by almost one month when compared to the unheated control beds. The authors have also developed heated green roofs in New York City using waste CHP heat in a similar cascade utilization that has demonstrated comparable results that included a small cotton harvest.