This example is a demonstration project at a university.Ĭredit: Craig Miller Productions, NREL 02409 The heat pump circulates a heat-conveying fluid, sometimes water, through the pipes to move heat from point to point.Ī commercial-scale ground source heat pump system. One can install the pipes either in horizontal trenches just below the ground surface or in vertical boreholes that go several hundred feet below ground. A ground source or geoexchange system consists of a heat pump connected to a series of buried pipes. For more information on the environmental benefits and effects of geothermal energy, visit EPA’s Clean Energy website.Ī ground source heat pump takes advantage of the naturally occurring difference between the above-ground air temperature and the subsurface soil temperature to move heat in support of end uses such as space heating, space cooling (air conditioning), and even water heating.Ground source heat pumps and direct use geothermal technologies serve heating and cooling applications, while deep and enhanced geothermal technologies generally take advantage of a much deeper, higher temperature geothermal resource to generate electricity.
Geothermal energy is considered a renewable resource. Three main types of technologies take advantage of Earth as a heat source: Department of Energy provides additional geothermal potential maps.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory provides maps that show the potential for direct use and deep geothermal systems where you live.Ground source heat pumps can be used anywhere in the United States, while direct use and deep systems are currently limited to regions with naturally high geothermal activity.