Despite the proven efficacy of geothermal energy as a city-scale heating and cooling resource, the relative newness of most city-scale applications using diverse technologies has resulted in limited widespread adoption. We aim to develop authoritative information suitable for city-managers and other decision-makers. Geothermal resources are ubiquitous and diverse, with technologies available both for harvesting ambient heat or for storing thermal energy. These local low-carbon, baseload energy sources provide resilience, security, and jobs. The project team proposes to accelerate understanding and possibly energy-solution adoption by developing an international systematic nomenclature to describe the range of resources, the conditions under which each occurs, and necessary steps to streamline understanding of environmental, economic, and regulatory synergies that may affect stakeholder decisions during development of diverse energy portfolios. This will be achieved by accomplishing the goals of five working groups, each addressing a critical area of knowledge and applying that knowledge to quantify resource options/potential for at least 20 representative cities spanning Europe, eastern Asia, and the U.S.: (1) geothermal resource options descriptions, characteristics, and limitations, (2) climate-driven city-based urban energy needs analysis, (3) energy supply/demand matching analysis that identifies city-specific potential complimentary benefits of geothermal resources, (4) identification of steps necessary to go from city-scale to regional and national assessments and resource estimates, and (5) a synergies and management analysis (e.g., benefits, environmental impacts, regulatory frameworks, sustainability, retrofitting, etc.).
Principal Investigators
Erick Burns (USGS)
Maciej R. Klonowski (Polish Geological Institute)
Cornelia Steiner (Geological Survey of Austria)
Yu-Feng Lin (Illinois State Geological Survey)
- Source: USGS Sciencebase (id: 6328e349d34e71c6d67b79ad)
- Overview
Despite the proven efficacy of geothermal energy as a city-scale heating and cooling resource, the relative newness of most city-scale applications using diverse technologies has resulted in limited widespread adoption. We aim to develop authoritative information suitable for city-managers and other decision-makers. Geothermal resources are ubiquitous and diverse, with technologies available both for harvesting ambient heat or for storing thermal energy. These local low-carbon, baseload energy sources provide resilience, security, and jobs. The project team proposes to accelerate understanding and possibly energy-solution adoption by developing an international systematic nomenclature to describe the range of resources, the conditions under which each occurs, and necessary steps to streamline understanding of environmental, economic, and regulatory synergies that may affect stakeholder decisions during development of diverse energy portfolios. This will be achieved by accomplishing the goals of five working groups, each addressing a critical area of knowledge and applying that knowledge to quantify resource options/potential for at least 20 representative cities spanning Europe, eastern Asia, and the U.S.: (1) geothermal resource options descriptions, characteristics, and limitations, (2) climate-driven city-based urban energy needs analysis, (3) energy supply/demand matching analysis that identifies city-specific potential complimentary benefits of geothermal resources, (4) identification of steps necessary to go from city-scale to regional and national assessments and resource estimates, and (5) a synergies and management analysis (e.g., benefits, environmental impacts, regulatory frameworks, sustainability, retrofitting, etc.).
Principal Investigators
Erick Burns (USGS)
Maciej R. Klonowski (Polish Geological Institute)
Cornelia Steiner (Geological Survey of Austria)
Yu-Feng Lin (Illinois State Geological Survey)- Source: USGS Sciencebase (id: 6328e349d34e71c6d67b79ad)
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