KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering (2011) 15(4):635-642

DOI 10.1007/s12205-011-0004-8
635
www.springer.com/12205
Energy Geotechnology
Geotechnical Issues Related to Renewable Energy
Tae Sup Yun*, Jong-Sub Lee**, Seung-Cheol Lee***,
Young Jin Kim****, and Hyung-Koo Yoon*****
Received August 31, 2010/Accepted February 16, 2011

Abstract
The renewable energy has been investigated as an alternative resource to resolve the demanding consumption of conventional
hydrocarbon energy, to minimize the environmental impact, and to secure the sustainability for decades. The exploitation of
renewables is often hampered due to the intermittence, site-dependency, and the lack of engineering experiences. The objective of
this paper is to introduce the characteristics of various renewable energies and to examine the roles for geotechnical engineers.
Beginning with the synopsis of worldwide energy consumption, an overview is presented for renewable energy sources of air, water,
heat and organics in terms of associated technologies and issues related to geotechnology. The compressed air energy storage system
related to geomaterials is introduced, and the challenges that may need to be advanced by geotechnology are proposed. This paper
shows that Optimized site characterization, advanced geotechnical tools, and real-time monitoring systems are necessary for the
geotechnical construction of renewable energy systems.
Keywords: renewable energy, geothermal, wind farm, hydropower, compressed air energy storage, biomass, wave energy

1. Introduction
Conventional hydrocarbon resources have provided an
enormous amount of energy in the development of civilized
societies since the Industrial Revolution, while the depletion of
resources has accelerated due to extensive exploration and
demanding utilization. The inclusive exhaustion, which may
cause devastating chaos in human life, has been extended with
the aid of technology advancement in energy exploration and
production over the last few decades. The fast growth rate of
industrialization, population, and associated energy demands of
today seem to have aggravated the energy situation, resulting in
unexpected environmental issues. These issues have motivated
scientists and engineers to develop alternative energy as a
surrogate for hydrocarbon resources.
Promising alternatives that should satisfy environmental and
sustainable needs are renewable energy originating from natural
resources, which include solar energy, wind power, geothermal
heat, hydropower, and biomass. Despite their sustainability, the
potential for extensive utilization and appropriate application of
renewable energy are limited by the following aspects: 1) some
renewable energy sources are intermittent and non-controllable,
2) an energy storage system is often required, 3) the en-
vironmental impacts are not well known, and 4) acquirable
energy capacity is fully dependent upon the geographical site.
The development of renewable energy technologies has thus far
entailed a wide range of scientific and engineering disciplines.
Geotechnical engineers should primarily focus on site-
dependency to maximize renewables because the relevant geo-
situations play the following critical roles: 1) geo-media to provide
energy resources (e.g., geothermal heat and hydropower), 2) geo-
space to store alternating and residual energy (e.g., compressed
air), and 3) a geo-foundation to support energy-generating facilities
(e.g., wind turbine foundation and energy plant) (Rutter and
Elliott, 1976; Gunter et al., 2000; Van Bergen et al., 2003; Renard
et al., 2005; Andre et al., 2007; Shin et al., 2008). Therefore, the
geo-dependency of renewable energy may provide an opportunity
for geotechnology to become unique and indispensible to the
renewable energy field in practice.
The adaptable renewable energy systems (e.g., energy ex-
ploration, development, generation and distribution) involve
complex coupled phenomena and are very site-specific, which
hampers the comprehensive application of science and engineering.
The current effort to utilize and to develop renewable energy
*****Member, Assistant Professor, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul 120-749, Korea (E-mail: taesup@yonsei.ac.kr)
*****Member, Associate Professor, School of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, Korea University, Seoul 136-713, Korea (Corresponding
Author: E-mail: jongsub@korea.ac.kr)
*****General Manager, SK Engineering & Construction, Seoul 110-300, Korea (E-mail: sclee-a@skec.com)
*****Member, Graduate Student, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul 120-749, Korea (E-mail: leen09@yonsei.ac.kr)
*****Member, Post-doctoral Fellow, School of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, Korea University, Seoul 136-713, Korea (E-mail:
dandy09@korea.ac.kr)
Tae Sup Yun, Jong-Sub Lee, Seung-Cheol Lee, Young Jin Kim, and Hyung-Koo Yoon
636 KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering
encourages the exploration of more extreme construction
environments, which are less approachable with the current lack
of geotechnical experiences. Furthermore, challenges related to
renewable energy include environmental effects such as the
emission of Green House Gas (GHG) and air/water pollution. The
insurance of a novel technology to develop a renewable energy
that is cost-competitive over other conventional energy needs
requires further development. Moreover, the development of an
energy policy, societal consensus, and a long-term roadmap should
progress alongside the technologies. Geotechnical engineers are
now requested to contribute to the emerging field of renewable
energy, to extend their accumulated knowledge, to maximize the
efficiency of renewable energy utilization, and to educate future
engineers to enable them to resolve the complex and inter-
disciplinary problems.
This paper proposes that geo-engineers consider the role of
geotechnical engineering in the field of renewable energy,
including the overview of renewable energy and detailed
technology related to geotechnology. Renewable energy is
categorized according to the nature of the source (e.g., air, water,
heat, and organics), and related technologies are overviewed.
2. Overview of Renewable Energy
Figure 1 shows the projected worldwide energy consumption
for the year 2035. Liquid fuels (primarily petroleum) appear
to occupy a large portion of the energy used worldwide, while
the fractional share of liquid fuels shows the slowest decrease
due to the high oil prices. Note that the price of crude oil may
increase from $79 per barrel in 2010 to $133 per barrel in 2035
(U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2010). The share of
renewables and nuclear energy is projected to rapidly increase,
driven by government incentive, higher fossil fuel prices, and
environmental concerns about GHG emissions. Figure 2 illustrates
that the renewable share of worldwide electricity generation will
increase to 23% in 2035. While coal still provides a large source
for electricity generation (see Fig. 1), its growth will be limited
due to the price, GHG emissions, and pollution. The fastest
increase of renewable energy is attributed to the utilization of
hydropower and wind, which constitutes ~ 80% of the renewable
energy generation. Figure 3 shows the projection of other resources
(e.g., biomass/waste/tide/wave, solar and geothermal), except for
hydropower and wind, to 2035. The use of biomass, municipal
solid waste, and ocean energy, such as tide and current, will
rapidly increase. These resources are not cost-competitive with
hydrocarbon fuels. However, the development of original
technologies to improve their efficiency and economic feasibility
is encouraged. Wind and solar resources are discontinuous, while
the cost for the operation and maintenance of power generation
facilities is considerably less than other renewables.
The energy consumption of the world is estimated to increase
by 49% over the next two decades, among which the non-OECD
and OECD countries constitute an 84% and 14% increase,
respectively (U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2010).
Depending on the demands in each country, the consumption of
renewables varies. In the OECD countries, wind power and
Fig. 1. World Energy Projection by Energy Type, 1990-2035
(Source: International Energy Outlook 2010 provided by
the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Available at
www.eia.gov/oiaf/ieo/index.html. Btu represents british thermal
unit, a measure of energy. A gallon of gasoline contains
about 125,000 Btu.)
Fig. 2. Worldwide Electricity Generation by Fuel, 2007-2035
(Source: International Energy Outlook 2010 provided by the
U.S. Energy Information Administration. Available at www.
eia.gov/oiaf/ieo/index.html.)
Fig. 3. Renewable Electricity Generation by Energy Source, 2007-
2035 (Source: International Energy Outlook 2010 provided
by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Available at
www.eia.gov/oiaf/ieo/index.html.)
Geotechnical Issues Related to Renewable Energy
Vol. 15, No. 4 / April 2011 637
biomass will have a rapid growth while the relative portion of
hydropower decreases (Fig. 4a). On the other hand, hydropower in
the non-OECD countries has a significant potential to be
constructed with the substantial addition of wind power (Fig.
4b). Note that either hydropower or wind energy still require an
energy storage system (e.g., compressed air storage and pumped
storage for hydroelectricity) and an energy transportation system
to deliver energy generated from widely dispersed and remote
facilities to the requisite sites due to the intermittent characteristics
and site-dependency of renewable energy resources.
3. Renewable Energy Sources
The efficient generation of electricity and the direct use of
renewable energy require multidisciplinary scientific and
engineering knowledge. The following section summarizes the
overall concept of renewables in terms of their link to
geotechnical engineering.
3.1 Air
Wind energy originating from the sun is often considered as an
indirect form of solar energy (Herbert et al., 2007). Wind provides
commercially viable energy from both onshore and offshore
sources. The cost of onshore wind energy decreased 10% over
the past two decades, which now makes onshore wind energy
competitive with fossil and nuclear fuels for electric power
generation (Ram, 2006). The uniform supply of offshore wind
with higher speed may be advantageous and reliable for
producing high quality power. The challenges lie in the higher
construction cost required for the support of the super structure
(e.g., turbine engines). Furthermore, the offshore foundation
generally supports a higher tower and withstands additional
horizontal dynamic forces due to the waves and currents (Byrne
and Houlsby, 2006). Therefore, offshore wind farms involve a
higher cost in construction, operation, and maintenance. The
foundations and support structures for offshore wind farms in
shallow water constitute about 25% of the total system costs. The
cost of the foundation and support structure also increases as
water depth increases (Byrne and Houlsby, 2006).
Figure 5 shows typical foundation systems for onshore and
offshore wind farms. The gravity base foundation (Fig. 5a) is
typically constructed for an onshore system. It is applicable to
very shallow offshore systems such as the Middelgrunden and
Nysted wind farms, where the water depth is 3~8 m (Larsen et al.,
2005). The gravity foundation mainly supports the overturning
moments by its self-weight. Therefore, the ballast may be added
to enhance the stability of the foundation. Note that adding the
ballast increases the cost of the foundations, which are installed
in deep water where the waves and wind dramatically increase
the overturning moments (Herbert et al., 2007). Mono-piles (Fig.
5b), are applicable at an intermediate depth (10~30 m) and were
used at the Horns Rev offshore wind farm in Denmark, where
steel pipe mono-piles with a diameter of 3.9 m and a height of
28~40 m were installed by driving. The mono-pile type can be a
precast pile installed by driving or a bored pile installed by drilling
and grouting. The advantages of the mono-pile are its simple
shape and minimal design development, while its inherent
flexibility limits the installation depth (Ram, 2006). Therefore,
the diameter and thickness should increase according to the
height to maintain the stiffness of the mono-pile. As the water
depth increases, the suction caisson foundation can be used an
alternative as shown in Fig. 5(c). The shape of the suction caisson
foundation is an inverted bucket. After placing the caisson into
the seabed, the water trapped inside the caisson is pumped out
and the caisson is then penetrated into the soils. A suction
caisson has been deployed for the wind turbine constructed at
Fig. 4. Net Electricity Generation by Renewable Energy Sources
(Source: International Energy Outlook 2010 provided by
the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Available at
www.eia.gov/oiaf/ieo/index.html.): (a) OECD Countries, (b)
Non-OECD Countries
Fig. 5. Typical Foundations of Wind Farms: (a) Gravity Base, (b)
Monopile, (c) Suction Caisson, (d) Tripod or Jacket, (e)
Floating Foundation
Tae Sup Yun, Jong-Sub Lee, Seung-Cheol Lee, Young Jin Kim, and Hyung-Koo Yoon
638 KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering
Frederikhavn, Denmark (Byrne and Houlsby, 2006). Multiple
footings such as a tripod (three foundations) or tetrapod (four
foundations) shown in Fig. 5(d) become alternatives at deep
depths (30~60 m). As several piles are installed, the length of the
tower decreases, and the stiffness of the tower can satisfy the
dynamic response. Beyond a depth of ~60 m, the floating
foundation (Fig. 5e), which is site-independent and able to be
mass-produced, should have sufficient buoyancy for the support
of the superstructure weight, including turbines, and resist the
wind-driven overturning moments (Ram, 2006).
Major geotechnical challenges related to wind farm installation
include the prevention of erosion holes (e.g., scouring), the
investigation of an appropriate marine site suitable for offshore
foundations and the associated characterization of marine
sediments at an intermediate depth (den Boon et al., 2004). In
particular, the geotechnical characterization of soft marine
sediments that experience both dynamic loading for a long period
of time and time-dependent settlement is a key issue to secure the
safety of supporting foundation systems. Furthermore, the long-
term performance monitoring of offshore structures and marine
sediments primarily initiates interdisciplinary research efforts.
3.2 Water
Hydropower is energy that originates from the force of moving
water driven by the head difference that produces kinetic energy
for generation of electricity (Paish, 2002; Deane et al., 2010).
The renewable source of hydropower is continuously replenished
by the water cycle. It occupies the largest portion in currently
available renewable energy and is economically competitive with
fossil fuels. The hydropower system consists of a reservoir, dam
and powerhouse. Water flows through the penstock in the dam,
where cavitation may occur, and therefore causing damage. The
dam increases the head difference of water and controls water
flow. The dam types include arch dams, concrete gravity dams,
buttress dams, and embankment dams. The advantages of
hydropower include no GHG emission and controlled flood and
irrigation, while the disadvantages include the requirement of a
large area for reservoir and sedimentation at the bottom of the
reservoir.
Tidal energy, which originates from the rotation of the earth
and the gravitational pull (depending on the relative location) of
the sun and moon, is a renewable energy source (Pearson and
Winter, 1977; Hill, 1991; Xing and Davies, 1996; Charlier, 2003;
Melville and Bryden, 2004). The water level near the shore often
fluctuates (NEED, 2010) and should be stored in a lower dam
called a barrage for tidal energy generation. It generates electricity
when the water flows into the barrage through an inlet or when it
flows out. The cyclic duration corresponds to the hours in time
scale. The advantages of tidal power include the following: 1) no
GHG and waste byproducts, 2) less cost to maintain, and 3) pre-
dictable and uniform tides. On the other hand, the disadvantages
of tidal power are as follows: 1) high cost of construction, 2)
large area to store water, 3) non-controllable, and 4) completely
site-dependent.
Ocean currents, which are caused by wind and solar heating
(MMS, 2006; Karsten et al., 2008), are a renewable energy.
Ocean currents flow in only one direction. The flow direction of
tidal currents, which is generated by the rotation of the earth and
the gravitational pull of the moon and sun, is bi-directional. The
turbine can be anchored or installed on a mono-pile. It does not
require a dam for water storage, and the relevant structure is
relatively simple. However, the maintenance requires a high cost
and scouring near the supporting system may take place for a
long duration of the operation. This observation demonstrates
that the accumulated knowledge on scouring near the bridge
foundation can be applied in this field.
Wave energy originates from the fluctuation of ocean water
surface with a low frequency of less than 10
5
Hz (Holthuijsen,
2007). Ocean waves can be converted into electrical or
mechanical energy through several types of wave power
mechanisms (MMS, 2006). One of the wave power mechanisms
is the Pelamis Wave Energy Converter, which consists of six
articulated cylinders. The diameter and length of each cylinder
are 3.5 m and 30 m, respectively. The total length of the
articulated structure is 140 m in this example. The articulated
structure moves up and down and side to side due to the ocean
waves. Due to the nature of the floating system, the geotechnical
challenge is not identifiable.
In hydro-environments, geotechnical construction is challenging
due to the need to provide a comprehensive and accurate analysis
of seepage that distresses the stability of geo-media, to monitor
landslides and to prevent cavitations. The foundation of an energy
system must be deep and must maintain the resistance on the
moment caused by the drag on the system and dynamic vibrations
(Melville and Bryden, 2004). Furthermore, the installation of
a dynamically loaded geo-marine structure necessitates careful
examination of offshore sediment and timely construction to
reduce the construction cost. The optimized design for minimizing
operation and maintenance should be considered in conjunction
with the geotechnical engineers.
3.3 Heat
Thermal energy comes from solar resources and the internal
heat of the earth. Both provide sustainable and non-exhaustible
thermal energy. The adaptation of solar energy requires that the
photovoltaics and heat engine produce electricity, and the
contributions of geotechnical knowledge are often nominal. On
the other hand, the utilization of geothermal energy has been
widely explored in various forms. The following section mainly
presents information on geothermal energy which is closely
related to geotechnical engineering (Axelsson et al., 2002).
Geotechnical exploration helps to identify thermal energy
resources, including highly permeable and deep hot reservoirs,
shallow warm groundwater, hot impermeable rock masses, and
pressurized hot fluids on the subsurface where the redundant
internal heat of the earth is stored. Depending on the type of
resources, geotechnical exploration includes Hot Sedimentary
Aquifers (HAS) and Hot Dry Rocks (HDR). The hot aquifer
Geotechnical Issues Related to Renewable Energy
Vol. 15, No. 4 / April 2011 639
resources are located at a depth of < 3 km, and a pumping well is
used to extract the hot water (150~400
o
C) that converts the
thermal energy to electricity via a steam turbine. The thermal
energy is again infused into the adjacent injection well for
recharging. The hot dry rocks, the temperature of which is in
general greater than the hot aquifer, are engineered to secure the
efficient flow of injected fluid (e.g., hydraulic fracturing to open
the space). The hot dry rocks serve as a heat exchanger to
increase the fluid temperature, which is often called an Enhanced
Geothermal System (EGS). These two systems involve an open
circulation system at a deep depth. A major concern has been
raised about securing the sustainability of the environment.
Although geothermal heat is believed to be a renewable and
sustainable resource, the balance between energy production and
required pressure maintenance may become an issue. The
overexploitation to increase the production rate often causes a
dramatic pressure drop (Axelsson and Stefansson, 2003). The
maintenance and operation of the geothermal system over a long
period of time (several decades) without depleting available water
requires a well-designed engineering system to assure an
equilibrium state (Ryback, 2007). An emphasis is placed on the
significance of sustainability through a temporal scale evaluation
for maintenance. Due to the nature of the deeply embedded
geothermal aspects, a wide range of geotechnical challenges and
issues can be identified. The conventional practice of carrying
out a geotechnical survey is often limited to shallow depth (tens
of meters deep) and should be extended to several kilometers for
geothermal reconnaissance. The judgment of a feasible site
needs to be further linked to the deep exploratory drilling and
reservoir testing for the development and exploitation phase.
Directional drilling technology should be further developed.
More importantly, the flow of hot water at the subsurface
naturally involves coupled physical phenomena that result from
temperature-induced geomechanical stability problems and heat
exchange between geo-media and fluids. The quantitative estimate
of fluid flow in fractured rock and the migration of injected fluid,
the state-of-the-art monitoring techniques of reservoirs at several
kilometers of depth, the prevention of pressure leakage in the
reservoir, and the assurance of borehole stability are predominant
issues to successfully exploit geothermal energy. Again, the
development of engineering technology should be integrated
with the operational maintenance problem to achieve su-
stainability.
Another type of geothermal energy system includes a closed
circulation system that uses the circulating fluid within a closed
pipeline buried on the subsurface (Fig. 6). The pipelines (e.g.,
heat exchanger) can be directly buried in the ground and housed
in the supporting system (e.g., the energy pile functions as both a
foundation system and heat exchanger). These systems are limited
to a shallow depth to serve as an auxiliary power system in
homes and small size industrial complexes. The fluid flows
through a pipe and captures the surrounding heat from the
ground. This system also requires knowledge on the thermal
interaction between soils and sub-structures, thermally induced
changes in the bearing capacity of foundation systems, thermal
recharge by groundwater flows, and the thermal characterization
of soil properties.
The current technology restricts the extraction of geothermal
energy to the upper few kilometers of water due to the economic
factors involved. Exploration techniques using non-destructive
methods (e.g., seismic, gravity, magnetic, electrical-resistivity, and
electromagnetic surveys) and well as the drilling of wells are
critical to identify the geothermal resources (Barbier, 2002).
Environmental impacts may include the following: (1) the
generation of a large volume of steam containing non-con-
densable gases, (2) the corresponding air and water pollution, (3)
potential subsidence of ground surface due to the removal of
fluid, and (4) induced seismic events near the geologically
unstable regions (Barbier, 2002; Yetemen and Yalcin, 2009).
3.4 Waste
Electricity often originates from bio-resources such as urban
waste wood, crops, and forest residues, which have the advantage
of less emission of GHG compared with fossil-fuel incineration
(Antizar-Ladislao and Turrion-Gomez, 2010; Pimentel et al.,
1981). Representative technologies used to convert the biomass
to either power or heat include homogenization, gasification, and
anaerobic digestion via direct and co-firing combustion systems
(Kothari et al., 2010). The power generation process from biomass
inherently consumes carbon dioxide, and it has been often
considered as the net sink of GHG emissions. As highlighted
above, it is anticipated that the organic materials will provide the
largest share of renewable electricity generation, with the exception
of hydropower and wind and will show the fastest growth rate in
the OECD countries. This section mainly addresses waste and
landfill gas rather than biomass.
Renewable waste materials from various sectors (e.g.,
agriculture, industries, and domestic sources) are converted into
a usable energy form (Kothari et al., 2010). Anaerobic fer-
mentation drives organic materials to produce both biogas (e.g.,
Fig. 6. Exploitation of Geothermal Energy (The high temperature
geomaterials convey thermal energy to the injected fluid
into the circulating pipe and/or hot spots. e.g., Hot dry rocks
and hot sedimentary aquifers. The extracted heat energy at
the subsurface requires a balance between the production
rate and the long-term maintenance to ensure sustainabil-
ity.): (a) Heat Pump, (b) Power Plants
Tae Sup Yun, Jong-Sub Lee, Seung-Cheol Lee, Young Jin Kim, and Hyung-Koo Yoon
640 KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering
methane gas) and organic fertilizer by a microbiological process.
Furthermore, anaerobic fermentation is not site-dependent (Balat
and Balat, 2009). Alternatively, industrial wastewater can be used
for the production of hydrogen energy through bioprocess
technologies, where the byproduct is water rather than GHG
(Cheng and Hu, 2010). Although more than 50% of Municipal
Solid Waste (MSW) is incinerated, the biodegradable organic
matters containing MSW in the landfill that produce large amounts
of biogas reduce the overburden load on landfill sites and mitigate
geo-environmental contamination. Therefore, the waste-to-energy
conversion technology may become a promising method for
recycling degradable organic solid waste. Therefore, waste as a
renewable energy entails further investigation of geo-environ-
mental techniques: the engineered design of landfills to adapt
organic materials, preprocessing and recovery techniques, and
the environmental treatment of acid gas and heavy metals that
result from the incineration. Most of the sources of MSW
originate from areas remote from the landfill site, and the
demanding sectors from which are also located at a distance: this
situation naturally also involves waste and a produced energy
transportation system. It might mean that there may be less
contribution from geotechnical technology than other renewable
energy resources while the geoenvironmental approach still plays
an important role in the field of gas generation, management
systems and surface impoundments.
The waste may be utilized in producing reusable materials.
Examples include scrap tires, fly and bottom ash, foundry sand,
municipal sludge, recycled concrete, and papermill sludge
(Sharma and Reddy, 2004). The recycling of waste materials is
aimed to mitigate the volume of waste materials and to extend
the applicability of source materials. It requires the geomechanical
and physical characterization of engineered materials followed
by cost-effective applications.
4. Storage System
The storage of residual energy from renewables is imperative
due to the intermittent and time-dependent nature of power
generation. One of the feasible options is CAES (Compressed
Air Energy Storage), which is a power generation system used to
store low-cost surplus energy in the form of compressed air in
underground spaces during off-peak periods and to provide
higher-price electricity during on-peak periods (Miyake and
Denda, 1993; Crampsie, 2009; Henrik and Georges, 2009). The
air is compressed and stored in the underground space using the
low-cost off-peak electricity. The compressed air is then released
from the storage, preheated in a recuperator, heated via a fuel
burning combustor and expanded to drive a generator to yield
electricity power. The underground storage systems are often
categorized as constant pressure systems (unlined cavern and
porous strata) or constant volume system (lined cavern and salt
formation), as shown in Fig. 7. The CAES system provides 25-
60% more energy to the power grid than a conventional gas
turbine power plant. Another form of the CAES system utilizes
wind power to generate electricity power. However, due to the
intermittent nature of wind, the variation from generating
electricity power is stored at the peak hours to provide stable
electricity continuously (Arsie et al., 2009). The on-going
technology for the CAES is in the form of a hybrid concept to
combine the conventional CAES with renewable energy such as
wind and geothermal heating (David, 2004). The storage system
needs to be considered for the storage of not only energy but also
carbon dioxide, which may be one of the primary reasons for
utilizing renewables and mitigating climate change. The major
contribution by geotechnical engineers may become the geological
sequestration and its associated technologies. The IPCC (Inter-
governmental Panel on Climate Change) special report (2005)
categorizes the following required technologies: site selection
and geological characterization, drilling and injection methods,
behavior of injected carbon dioxide, risk assessment and
environmental impact, monitoring and verification, and legal and
public issues. Hence, technologies to be developed by geotechnical
engineers may include the physio-chemical-geomechanical
behavior of cap rocks for appropriate sealing, directional drilling
and borehole stability, the interpretation of coupled phenomena,
the thermodynamic behavior of injected carbon dioxide in saline
aquifer and bedrock, the propagation of rock fractures that may
be driven by injection pressure, the prediction of diffusion
velocity and regime over time, and geophysical exploration for
the injected CO
2
migration.
5. Geotechnical Challenges in Renewable Energy
The renewable energy systems described above have provided
a challenge for maximizing efficiency so as to enhance economical
viability and to mitigate the environmental impact. The critical
aspect of geotechnical engineering in satisfying the demand in
the field of renewable energy may be summarized as follows:
Design of creative geoenvironmental structures (i.e., hybrid
landfill design that includes a leachate collection system, bio-
fermentation, fluid separation and a transportation system)
Development of advanced geotechnical tools (i.e., an advanced
and directional drilling rig up to several kilometers and sealing
Fig. 7. Underground Storage System of CAES
Geotechnical Issues Related to Renewable Energy
Vol. 15, No. 4 / April 2011 641
of rock-formations)
Optimized site-characterization (i.e., 3D nondestructive site
investigation in conjunction with advanced sampling, on-time
construction, identification of appropriate geological structures
such as a salt dome, fracture and fault and cap rock and
characterization of unconventional geomaterials such as deep
marine sediments under a wide range of loading conditions)
Monitoring and maintenance of geo-structures (i.e., real-time
monitoring with a wireless sensing network)
Evaluation of geo-environmental impact (i.e., groundwater
contamination by leachate and biogas and subsidence of
formation by extraction of hot fluids)
Moreover, it is critical to create an interdisciplinary research
area that may include information technology for an innovative
sensing and monitoring system, bio-geotechnology to effectively
stabilize the geomaterials, and the optimal geo-design of untried
mega-structures. This interdisciplinary area can be achieved by
an improved educational curriculum that covers energy-oriented
engineering themes in order for future geotechnical engineers to
address demanding and unavoidable energy research and practices.
Newly designed courses need to be developed to cover funda-
mental physio-chemical processes that are involved in renewable
sources, to introduce case histories and future perspectives and to
engineer and manage energy related projects. The current geo-
technical engineering courses cover the mechanics of geo-
materials and foundations, ignoring the wide range of natural
phenomena occurring at the subsurface.
6. Conclusions
Engineering aspects related to renewable energy are over-
viewed and issues associated with geotechnical engineering are
proposed to encourage geotechnical engineers to contribute to
the emerging field of energy research. Despite the advancement
of geotechnical engineering over the last several decades and
integrated knowledge with other disciplines, a wide range of
unresolved engineering problems that necessitate further in-
vestigation prevails today. The cost-effectiveness of renewable
energy over conventional resources should be achieved by
breakthroughs in engineering practice and academic research. In
particular, the nature of renewable energy means that, due to its
geo-dependency, geotechnology is able to contribute to ma-
ximizing the efficient utilization of renewables. Critical areas
where geotechnical engineers play important roles should be
further investigated.
Acknowledgements
This study was supported by the Yonsei University Research
Fund of 2009 (No.2009-1-0193), National Research Foundation
of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education, Science
and Technology (No.2010-0002414), and a Korea University
Grant.
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