Lecture by Dr. Koppmann at
the 38th Christian Veder Colloquium in Graz 

The 38th Christian Veder Colloquium took place in Graz on April 4 and 5, 2024. The annual event is held and organized by the Institute of Soil Mechanics, Geotechnical Engineering and Numerical Geotechnics at TU Graz.

This year's colloquium, entitled "New Challenges in Geotechnics - Sustainability, Energy Transition & Climate Change", was dedicated to a hot topic that will determine the future of all societies worldwide. On a (geo)technical level, the aim is to find solutions to reduce CO2 emissions, exploit renewable energies or improve the sustainability of geotechnical structures, for example.

As part of the second morning block, Dr. Koppmann presented the large potential of the thermal activation of steel sheet pile walls at open waters in a presentation entitled " Exploiting renewable energy via thermally activated sheet pile walls - Evaluation of the CO2 saving potential and the impact on the aquatic ecology". In addition to the near-surface subsoil, the great energy potential of open waters can be efficiently utilized and renewable energy can be provided for the heating and cooling of buildings. Thus, the use of fossil fuels can be significantly reduced by operating energy sheet pile walls, ensuring a large CO2 saving potential. When planning the cooling operation, possible effects on the aquatic ecology must be examined and evaluated as part of the approval process.