An Untapped Energy Source: Underground Garages

A new study highlights the untapped resource that is emanating from underground parking garages, writes Prachi Patel in Anthropocene Magazine. “Cars parked in underground parking lots throw off so much heat that it warms up groundwater beneath them. This wasted energy could be enough to supply over 14,600 households with heat in Berlin alone, researchers report in the journal Science of the Total Environment.” 

Using the heat for other purposes would also benefit biodiversity by protecting species sensitive to temperature rise and limiting bacterial growth caused by higher water temperatures.

The researchers used heat sensors in 31 underground garages in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland to measure ambient air and groundwater temperature. The study also indicated that “Public underground car parks heat up the groundwater more than private facilities as they are often deeper and the cars park there for shorter periods of time.”

“Integrating heat pumps into existing ventilation systems might be a way to utilize this waste heat energy from underground parking lot air, the researchers say.”