The Geothermal Ecosystem
Geothermal — or Earth Heat—is a clean, abundant, and renewable natural resource that is helping us meet our environmental vision. Geothermal heat pumps can be installed almost anywhere and are an ideal way to heat and cool our homes, schools, and workplaces. Where Nature creates the right conditions, geothermal hot springs can provide energy for fish farms, greenhouses, and municipal heating systems. And in some places, deep geologic activity creates super hot water and steam that can be used by geothermal power plants to generate electricity for thousands of consumers. All of these uses offer renewable energy with few environmental impacts.
40˚ to 70˚F Typical Ground Temperature
90˚ to 200˚F “Hot Spring” Aquifer Temps
200˚ to 700˚F “Volcanic” Deep Resource Temps
40˚ to 70˚F Typical Ground Temperature
90˚ to 200˚F “Hot Spring” Aquifer Temps
200˚ to 700˚F “Volcanic” Deep Resource Temps
40˚ to 70˚F Typical Ground Temperature
Geothermal Heat Pumps
Residential and Commercial Heating and Cooling
Ground-source geothermal heat is found everywhere just a few feet below the surface of the Earth. In a widely used installation method, geothermal—or ground-source—heat pumps (GSHPs) circulate water through a closed loop of plastic pipe (or refrigerant through copper tubing) that is inserted into vertical boreholes or laid out horizontally in relatively shallow trenches. The fluid discharges heat from a building into the ground during summer and taps the ground’s warmth during winter.
GSHPs are among the most efficient technologies for heating and cooling buildings. Compared to conventional systems, GSHPs reduce the amount of energy used by homes and commercial buildings by 40% to 70% (including fossil fuels and power from the electric grid). They can also heat water for domestic use as a bonus. GSHP systems require little maintenance and provide reliable heating and cooling year-round. GSHPs use a small measure of electricity to move much greater volumes of renewable energy from the Earth to and from buildings. As a result, GSHPs deliver four to five times more energy to a home or commercial structure than the unit itself consumes from the power grid.
Millions of GSHPs have been installed in the past 4 decades and provide an asset to the building owner with a ground heat exchanger that could easily last 50+ years. This underground heat source/heat sink is not dependent upon the outside air temperature, providing year-round comfort.
90˚ to 200˚F “Hot Spring” Aquifer Temps
Geothermal Direct Use
Large-Scale Electricity Generation for the Grid
In unique locations primarily in the western United States, nature’s volcanic and other geologic forces have created deep and very hot geothermal fluid systems that are suitable for power plant development. Heat from these geologic sites produces steam that is then used to drive turbines to produce electricity.
Attributes of Geothermal Power:
• Renewable resource
• Provides power 24/7 compared to wind and solar
• Domestically sourced
• Small footprint compared to conventional power plants
• Produce no greenhouse gas emissions
200˚ to 700˚F “Volcanic” Deep Resource Temps
Geothermal Direct Use
Aquaculture, Greenhouses, Resorts and Spas
In some mountainous and geologically active parts of the country, geothermal springs and aquifers yield waters that are useful directly from the Earth. Direct-Use geothermal resources are usually found at economical drilling depths and have few if any efficiency losses, because their hot water resource is applied directly from the well to its purpose.
Direct-Use Geothermal Applications:
• Heating pools
• Fish farming or aquaculture
• Greenhouses
• Spas
• Hot spring resorts
Learn More...
The International Ground Source Heat Pump Association (IGSHPA) focuses on training and standards for Ground Source Heat Pumps (GSHP), also called Geothermal Heat Pumps, GeoExchange Systems, Water-source Heat Pumps, and other industry terms. IGSHPA supports all types of geothermal energy. Learn about GSHPs.
The Geothermal Exchange Organization (GeoExchange) supports their members’ business objectives while promoting maximum, sustainable growth of the geothermal heat pump industry through Advocacy, Partnerships, Public Outreach, and Promotion of Quality Standards.
Geothermal Rising provides expertise through its members in geothermal power and direct use and supports geothermal energy of all types. The organization’s goals are to …
- Broaden awareness of geothermal energy and its important role in the energy transformation.
- Build positive public sentiment towards geothermal energy as a clean, renewable, and ubiquitous energy source.
- Empower the geothermal community to advance through, technological innovation, education and collaboration with other sectors
- Expand the demand for and use of geothermal energy.