energies Article Defining the Shallow Geothermal Heat-Exchange Potential for a Lower Fluvial Plain of the Central Apennines: The Metauro Valley (Marche Region, Italy) Marco Taussi 1,* , Walter Borghi 2, Michele Gliaschera 2 and Alberto Renzulli 1,3 1 Dipartimento di Scienze Pure e Applicate, Università degli Studi di Urbino Carlo Bo, Via Ca’ Le Suore 2/4, 61029 Urbino, Italy;
[email protected] 2 GEOCON Studio Associato per la Geologia e la Sicurezza, Via Gozzi 10/A, 61032 Fano, Italy;
[email protected] (W.B.);
[email protected] (M.G.) 3 Geo.In.Tech. srl Spin Off, Università degli Studi di Urbino Carlo Bo, Via Ca’ Le Suore 2/4, 61029 Urbino, Italy * Correspondence:
[email protected] Abstract: In this work we assessed the shallow geothermal heat-exchange potential of a fluvial plain of the Central Apennines, the lower Metauro Valley, where about 90,000 people live. Publicly available geognostic drilling data from the Italian Seismic Microzonation studies have been exploited together with hydrogeological and thermophysical properties of the main geological formations of the area. These data have been averaged over the firsts 100 m of subsoil to define the thermal conductivity, the specific heat extraction rates of the ground and to establish the geothermal potential of the area (expressed in MWh y−1). The investigation revealed that the heat-exchange potential is mainly controlled by the bedrock lithotypes and the saturated conditions of the sedimentary infill. A general increase in thermal conductivity, specific heat extraction and geothermal potential have been mapped moving from the coast, where higher sedimentary infill thicknesses have been found, Citation: Taussi, M.; Borghi, W.; towards the inland where the carbonate bedrock approaches the surface.