Geothermal energy potential for district and process heating applications in the U. S. :  an economic analysis

Bloomster, C.H.; Fassbender, L.L.; McDonald, C. L.

doi:10.2172/5421294

Cited by 3 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…But this figure for low temperature heat would not be sustainable in the long term: annually, the heat flow to all Earth's surface is only about 1300 EJ, and most of this heat flow occurs under the oceans or in inaccessible areas on land [72]. For the US, geothermal energy is concentrated west of the Rockies, so that only a small fraction of the US population could economically use it [73]. Until the actual amount of useable geothermal heat is calculated for each region of Earth, this figure cannot be estimated.…”

Section: Technical Potential For Other Re Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Energy Accounting for a Renewable Energy Future

Moriarty

Honnery

2019

Energies

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For millennia, humans relied almost entirely on renewable energy (RE), largely biomass, for their energy needs. Over the past century, fossil fuels (FFs) have not only largely replaced RE, but have enabled a many-fold rise in total energy use. This FF dominance changed the way we think about and accounted for energy use. If (as at present) the world essentially continues to ignore climate change, eventual resource depletion will force conversion to RE and, perhaps, nuclear energy will once again have to provide most of the world’s energy use. However, the change is more likely to come about because of the urgent need for climate change mitigation. At present, primary RE electricity accounting is done by calculating the FF energy that would be needed to produce it. But as FFs disappear, this approach makes less sense. Instead, a new approach to energy accounting will be needed, one that allows for the intermittent nature of the two most abundant RE sources, wind and solar power. Surplus intermittent RE might be converted to H2, further complicating energy accounting. An additional complication will be the treatment of energy reductions, especially from passive solar energy, likely to be more important in the coming decades. This paper is a review of the evidence to try to determine the best approach to future energy accounting.

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Section: Technical Potential For Other Re Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Energy Accounting for a Renewable Energy Future

Moriarty

Honnery

2019

Energies

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“…A two-pipe system must be used when mixing of spent fluids is called for, and when the spent cold fluids need to be injected into the reservoir. Two-pipe distribution systems cost typically 20 to 30 per cent more than single-piped systems (Bloomster et al, 1977).…”

Section: Transmission and Distributionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Direct uses of earth heat

Gudmundsson

Lund

1985

Int. J. Energy Res.

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Potential resources and applications of earth heat in the form of geothermal energy are large. World‐wide direct uses amount to 7072 MW thermal above a reference temperature of 35°C. District heating is the major direct use of geothermal energy. Equipment employed in direct use projects is of standard manufacture and includes downhole and circulation pumps, transmission and distribution pipelines, heat exchangers and convectors, heat pumps and chillers. Direct uses of earth heat discussed are district heating and cooling, greenhouse heating and fish farming, process and industrial applications, combined and cascading uses. The economic feasibility of direct use projects is governed by site specific factors such as location of user and resource, resource quality, system load factor and load density, as well as financing. Examples are presented of district heating in Reykjavík, Klamath Falls, Melun l'Amont and Svartsengi. Further developments of direct uses of geothermal energy will depend on matching user needs to the resource, and improving load factors and load density.

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“…This is due to the low energy content of the fluid: fuel oil contains on the order of 100 times more energy than an equal volume of hot water. (14) This constraint is actually less onerous than it seems, since most potential sources and uses are collocated in areas of relatively dense population. One major source potentially isolated from prospective users is the nuclear power plant.…”

Section: Aquifer Occurrencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Perhaps the most pervasive characteristic of ATES systems is that they will be capital-intensive. Geothermal district heating system costs are typically about 60% fixed, (14) and it is likely that ATES district heating systems costs will be similarly structured, although payment for waste heat or cogenerated hot water may constitute a significant variable cost in many cases. This characteristic has some major implications for the viability of potential ATES systems.…”

Section: General Cost Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One cost estimate is $500/residence (for forced air systems), and $2000/residence (for electric resistance heating). (14) Another estimate gives $3120 and $4960, respectively (1985 dollars). 20The transmission and distribution costs, and even some of the wellrelated storage costs, can be reduced by designing the system capacity to meet less than peak demand in district heating applications.…”

Section: End Use-related Costsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Descriptive analysis of aquifer thermal energy storage systems

Reilly¹

1980

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Geothermal energy potential for district and process heating applications in the U. S. : an economic analysis

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

Energy Accounting for a Renewable Energy Future

Energy Accounting for a Renewable Energy Future

Direct uses of earth heat

Descriptive analysis of aquifer thermal energy storage systems

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