What Happened?
Fargo is considering installing a geothermal heat pump underneath its new city hall that is estimated to save $18,100 in utility costs, which accounts for a 35 drop in energy use.
Goal
In Fargo, North Dakota, the City Hall Building Committee recently recommended that the City Commission construct a geothermal heat pump below the soon-to-be built city hall. If the geothermal heat pump had been used throughout the past year, the committee calculated $18,100 could have been saved in utility costs. The committee expects the geothermal heat pump to cut the energy use in City Hall by 35 percent in the first year, Prairie Biz Magazine reported.
When incorporated into the plans for the new City Hall, the geothermal heat project would include the installation of 280 wells lying 200 feet below a public plaza. In total, the geothermal project would cost $850,000 and be completed in two phases, Prairie Biz Magazine reported.
Why Geothermal?
The geothermal heat technology would collect heat energy during warmer months and store it for use when temperatures drop in the winter. Geothermal energy can be used for electricity, heating and cooling applications. According to the Department of Energy, geothermal heat systems offer several high-efficiency benefits:
- Renewable: The rate of energy extraction can be balanced with a reservoir’s natural heat recharge rate for continual renewal
- Baseload: Geothermal power plants produce electricity 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and are unaffected by changing weather conditions
- Domestic: Geothermal resources do not need to be imported
- Small Impact: Geothermal power plans use less land than cola, wind or solar power
- Clean: Geothermal plants do not emit greenhouse gasses and consume less water than most conventional generation technologies
There are three geothermal power plant technologies most often deployed in the U.S. to transform hydrothermal fluids to electricity: dry steam, flash steam and binary cycle.
DEO Offers $18M for Geothermal Energy Projects
The U.S. Department of Energy is setting aside $18 million for 32 winning projects that are advancing geothermal energy development across the country. The selected initiatives will focus on research and development of geothermal energy in three areas:
- Advancing subsurface analysis and engineering techniques for enhanced geothermal systems
- Applying a map approach called play fairway analysis to discover new geothermal resources
- Accelerating extraction technologies to unlock domestic supplies of high-value materials from low- to moderate-temperature geothermal resources
When combined, the projects will lower the cost and risk of geothermal development while making it easier for communities to deploy the solutions and enjoy economic benefits.
Furthermore, the DOE is also providing $1.15 million to small businesses that are offering:
- Innovations that develop new markets for geothermal energy
- Technologies enabling wider use of co-produced geothermal resources
According to the Geothermal Energy Association, geothermal power was operational in 24 countries in 2014, reaching upwards of 12.7 gigawatts of energy. Moving forward, there are more than 11.7 gigawatts of capacity additions in development and 1.8 gigawatts of power under construction in 80 countries worldwide. By 2040, the association estimates the global geothermal power industry will reach 20 gigawatts of online capacity.
Building on Efficiency
Gov1 has followed a variety of energy efficiency projects that not only cut emissions but support economic growth.