The course focuses on applications of geotechnical engineering to develop solutions to emerging and global challenges, such as climate change, enhancement of urban sustainability and resilience, energy and materials resource management, and management of underground water resources. Principles of soil and rock mechanics are related to contaminant and heat transport in the subsoil to address the design, construction, operation and maintenance of energy geostructures (e.g., energy piles, energy walls and energy tunnels), energy geosystems (e.g. CO2 sequestration) and environmental geostructures (e.g., covers, cutoff wall, lining systems). Several applications concerning geological energy production and storage, as well as the climatic effects on soils and rocks behaviour related to natural and engineered environment will be discussed. Moreover, attention is paid to applications of environmental geotechnics, including the design of waste disposal facilities, isolation of contaminated ground and remediation of contaminated sites.

At the end of the classes, students will be able to: • Develop an enhanced understanding of soil and rock behaviour, including thermo-hydro-mechanical performance and physico-chemical interaction at the micro-scale. • Apply advanced geotechnical knowledge to face the global challenges. • Acquire the skills for developing adaptation and mitigation strategies to face climate change. • Design energy geostructures and geosystems. • Develop engineering solutions to environmental geotechnics problems involving waste disposal facilities and contaminated site remediation systems. • Stimulate criticisms and engineering judgment.

Students are required to have basic knowledge on: • structural mechanics and hydraulics. • Basic knowledge on geotechnical engineering, characterization procedures for soils and rocks, design methods.

Part 1. Introduction to geotechnical applications for energy and the environment Emerging global challenges Renewable energy sources Advanced geomechanics Fundamental aspects of thermo-hydro-chemo-mechanical behavior of soils and rocks Part 2. Climate change and geostructures Present and future climate trends Climate change effects and impacts on geostructures Rainfall-induced slope instability Desiccation cracking in soils Freezing and thawing Soil-atmosphere-vegetation interaction Global climate models and downscaling methods Adaptation strategies to cope with climate change Part 3. Energy geostructures Geothermal energy Legal, economic and social aspects of shallow geothermal energy Energy geostructures and geosystems concepts Determination of soil and rock properties (laboratory and in situ tests) Thermal design of Energy Piles, Energy walls and Energy Tunnels Structural design of Energy Piles, Energy walls and Energy Tunnels Construction aspects and monitoring Interaction and spatial optimization Examples Part 4. Energy geosystems Wellbore failure analysis Determination of in situ state of stress from inverse analysis; Modelling subsidence phenomena at regional scale; CO2 sequestration in deep aquifers and reservoirs Part 5. Environmental geotechnics History of environmental geotechnics Environmental responsibility and sustainable development Risk assessment methods Environmental regulations Part 6. Containment systems Landfill components and configuration Isolation of contaminated ground Design of drainage systems Design of low permeability barriers: lining systems and cutoff walls Design of cover systems Transport of contaminants in water solution through containment barriers Performance-based design of barrier systems Part 7. Remediation systems Distribution of non-aqueous phase liquids in soils Migration of light non-aqueous phase liquids Design of a dual pump well system for the removal of hydrocarbons from the ground

The GAEE class will include: • 40,5 hours of lectures in the classroom to develop knowledge on energy and environmental geotechnics (see programme). • 19,5 hours of exercise classes in the computer room (LAIB) with the use of dedicated software. During exercise classes, students will be asked to work on real projects and take advantage of the knowledge gained during lectures to solve the engineering problem proposed. Students will be asked to prepare a written report out of their work.

Specific reading material, together with the slides used, will be made available to students during lectures. Additional useful reading material (all available at the Politecnico di Torino libraries) are: • Mitchell, J.K., and Soga, K., (2005). Fundamentals of Soil Behavior, 3rd edn., Wiley. • Reddi, L., and Inyang, H.I., (2000). Geoenvironmental Engineering, Taylor and Francis • Rowe, R.K. (2012). Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering Handbook (Volume 1 and 2), Springer

Slides; Esercizi risolti; Esercitazioni di laboratorio;

Modalità di esame: Prova orale obbligatoria; Elaborato grafico individuale;

Exam: Compulsory oral exam; Individual graphic design project;

... The scope of the exam is to ascertain that the student has assimilated all topics presented and is able to apply the theories and methods for the solution of practical geotechnical engineering problems in the field of energy and environmental geotechnics. Votes are on a basis of thirty and the exam is considered sufficient when the vote is at least 18/30. The exam consists of an oral examination and the writing up of a technical report. The technical report will be completed during the exercise classes and needs to be submitted, at the latest, one week in advance to the oral exam. The oral exam will consist of a discussion over the topics presented during lectures and exercise classes. The maximum vote will be 30/30. The final mark will be obtained by combining the votes of the technical report (20%), the written exam (80%) and the oral.

Gli studenti e le studentesse con disabilità o con Disturbi Specifici di Apprendimento (DSA), oltre alla segnalazione tramite procedura informatizzata, sono invitati a comunicare anche direttamente al/la docente titolare dell'insegnamento, con un preavviso non inferiore ad una settimana dall'avvio della sessione d'esame, gli strumenti compensativi concordati con l'Unità Special Needs, al fine di permettere al/la docente la declinazione più idonea in riferimento alla specifica tipologia di esame.