Air-conditioning systems with groundwater heat pumps using the Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (ATES) are known to be highly effective for reducing carbon dioxide emission and saving energy.
In order to build the ATES systems, pumping and recharge wells must be drilled, but national and regional governments have strict regulations for pumping groundwater especially in the urban areas for preventing the land subsidence due to the excessive pumping of groundwater during the high economic growth period in the Japanese society.
In this research, the social systems such as legal regulations to use groundwater were focused to investigate the applicability of ATES systems in populated areas of Japan.
As a result of investigation, more than half of all households are limited by social systems when ATES is introduced. The restricted areas are mainly concentrated around the three major urban areas of Japan. In order to promote the introduction of ATES, the suitability of these social systems should be first investigated.
