Update on Geothermal Direct-Use Installations in the United States

Beckers, Koenraad J; Young, Katherine R; Snyder, Diana M.

Title: Update on Geothermal Direct-Use Installations in the United States

Full Record
Other Related Research

Abstract

Direct-use of geothermal energy currently has limited penetration in the United States, with an estimated installed capacity of about 500 MWth, supplying on the order of 0.01% of the total annual U.S. heat demand (about 30 EJ). We see higher penetration levels in other countries such as Iceland (about 90%) and Hungary (2.5%). An updated database of geothermal direct-use systems in the U.S. has been compiled and analyzed, building upon the Oregon Institute of Technology (OIT) Geo-Heat Center direct-use database. Types of directuse applications examined include hot springs resorts and pools, aquaculture farms, greenhouses, and district heating systems, among others; power-generating facilities and ground-source heat pumps were excluded. Where possible, the current operation status, open and close dates, well data, and other technical data were obtained for each entry. The database contains 545 installations, of which 407 are open, 108 are closed, and 30 have an unknown status. Spas are the most common type of installation, accounting for 50% of installations by number. Aquaculture installations (46 out of 407 open installations) account for the largest percentage (26%) of installed capacity in operation (129 MWth out of 501 MWth). Historical deployment curves show the installed capacity significantly increased in the 1970smore »« less

Authors:

Beckers, Koenraad J ^[1]; Young, Katherine R ^[1]; Snyder, Diana M. ^[2]

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Georgia State University

Publication Date:: 2017-02-15

Research Org.:: National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Geothermal Technologies Office

OSTI Identifier:: 1394114

Report Number(s):: NREL/CP-5500-67865

DOE Contract Number:: AC36-08GO28308

Resource Type:: Conference

Resource Relation:: Conference: Presented at the 42nd Workshop on Geothermal Reservoir Engineering, 13-15 February 2017, Stanford University, Stanford, California

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Subject:: 15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY; 29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY; direct-use; geothermal; installations; market; barriers

Citation Formats


                    Beckers, Koenraad J, Young, Katherine R, and Snyder, Diana M. Update on Geothermal Direct-Use Installations in the United States.  United States: N. p., 2017. 
        Web.

Copy to clipboard


                    Beckers, Koenraad J, Young, Katherine R, & Snyder, Diana M. Update on Geothermal Direct-Use Installations in the United States.  United States.

Copy to clipboard


                    Beckers, Koenraad J, Young, Katherine R, and Snyder, Diana M. 2017.  
        "Update on Geothermal Direct-Use Installations in the United States".  United States.

Copy to clipboard


                    
@article{osti_1394114,

  title        = {Update on Geothermal Direct-Use Installations in the United States},

  author       = {Beckers, Koenraad J and Young, Katherine R and Snyder, Diana M.},

  abstractNote = {Direct-use of geothermal energy currently has limited penetration in the United States, with an estimated installed capacity of about 500 MWth, supplying on the order of 0.01% of the total annual U.S. heat demand (about 30 EJ). We see higher penetration levels in other countries such as Iceland (about 90%) and Hungary (2.5%). An updated database of geothermal direct-use systems in the U.S. has been compiled and analyzed, building upon the Oregon Institute of Technology (OIT) Geo-Heat Center direct-use database. Types of directuse applications examined include hot springs resorts and pools, aquaculture farms, greenhouses, and district heating systems, among others; power-generating facilities and ground-source heat pumps were excluded. Where possible, the current operation status, open and close dates, well data, and other technical data were obtained for each entry. The database contains 545 installations, of which 407 are open, 108 are closed, and 30 have an unknown status. Spas are the most common type of installation, accounting for 50% of installations by number. Aquaculture installations (46 out of 407 open installations) account for the largest percentage (26%) of installed capacity in operation (129 MWth out of 501 MWth). Historical deployment curves show the installed capacity significantly increased in the 1970s and 1980s mainly due to development of geothermal district heating, aquaculture, and greenhouse systems. Since the 2000s, geothermal direct-use development appears to have slowed, and the number of sites in operation decreased due to closures. Case studies reveal multiple barriers to geothermal direct-use implementation and operation, including 1) existence of an information gap among stakeholders, developers, and the general public, 2) competition from cheap natural gas, and 3) the family-owned, small-scale nature of businesses might result in discontinuation among generations.},

  doi          = {},

  url          = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1394114},
  journal      = {},
number       = ,

  volume       = ,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {2017},

  month        = {2}

}

Copy to clipboard

Conference:

Other availability

Please see Document Availability for additional information on obtaining the full-text document. Library patrons may search WorldCat to identify libraries that hold this conference proceeding.

Save / Share:

Export Metadata

Save to My Library

Similar records in OSTI.GOV collections:

Update on Geothermal Direct-Use Installations in the United States

Dataset Beckers, Koenraad F.; Snyder, Diana M.; Young, Katherine R.

An updated database of geothermal direct-use systems in the U.S. has been compiled and analyzed, building upon the Oregon Institute of Technology (OIT) Geo-Heat Center direct-use database. Types of direct-use applications examined include hot springs resorts and pools, aquaculture farms, greenhouses, and district heating systems, among others; power-generating facilities and ground-source heat pumps were excluded. Where possible, the current operation status, open and close dates, well data, and other technical data were obtained for each entry. The database contains 545 installations, of which 407 are open, 108 are closed, and 30 have an unknown status. A report is also includedmore »« less
https://doi.org/10.15121/1441455

View Dataset
Geothermal direct use projects in the United States: Status and trends

Conference Lunis, B; Lienau, P

Prior to about 1973, geothermal most direct use projects in the United States involved pool/spa applications and limited district and space heating systems. The oil price shocks of the 1970's revived interest in the use of geothermal energy as an alternative energy source. Accordingly, the US Department of Energy initiated numerous programs that caused significant growth of this industry. These programs involved technical assistance to developers, the preparation of project feasibility studies for potential users, cost sharing of demonstration projects (space and district heating, industrial, agriculture, and aquaculture), resource assessments, loan guarantees, support of state resource and commercialization activities, andmore »« less
Full Text Available
GeoPowering the west.

Conference Hill, Roger

The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) GeoPowering the West (GPW) program works with the U.S. geothermal industry, power companies, industrial and residential consumers, and federal, state, and local officials to provide technical and institutional support and limited, cost-shared funding to state-level activities. By demonstrating the benefits of geothermal energy, GPW increases state and regional awareness of opportunities to enhance local economies and strengthen our nation's energy security while minimizing environmental impact. By identifying barriers to development and working with others to eliminate them, GPW helps a state or region create a regulatory and economic environment that is more favorable formore »« less
Performance, Cost, and Financial Parameters of Geothermal District Heating Systems for Market Penetration Modeling under Various Scenarios

Conference Beckers, Koenraad; Young, Katherine

Geothermal district heating (GDH) systems have limited penetration in the U.S., with an estimated installed capacity of only 100 MWth for a total of 21 sites. We see higher deployment in other regions, for example, in Europe with an installed capacity of more than 4,700 MWth for 257 GDH sites. The U.S. Department of Energy Geothermal Vision (GeoVision) Study is currently looking at the potential to increase the deployment in the U.S. and to understand the impact of this increased deployment. This paper reviews 31 performance, cost, and financial parameters as input for numerical simulations describing GDH system deployment inmore »« less
Geothermal direct-heat utilization assistance. Federal Assistance Program quarterly project progress report, April 1--June 30, 1998

Technical Report

This report summarizes geothermal technical assistance, R and D and technology transfer activities of the Geo-Heat Center at Oregon Institute of Technology for the third quarter of FY98 (April--June, 1998). It describes 231 contacts with parties during this period related to technical assistance with geothermal direct heat projects. Areas dealt with included requests for general information including material for high school and university students, and material on geothermal heat pumps, resource and well data, spacing heating and cooling, greenhouses, aquaculture, equipment, district heating, resorts and spas, industrial applications, snow melting and electric power. Research activities include work on model constructionmore »« less
https://doi.org/10.2172/629368

Full Text Available

Similar Records