Development and Preliminary Analysis of a U.S. Geothermal Heat Pump Installation Database

Conference · Mon Jan 27 04:00:00 EST 2025

OSTI ID:2524538

Pauling, Hannah; Podgorny, Slater; Akindipe, Dayo

This paper seeks to addresses the significant gap in the literature regarding the installation and adoption of geothermal heat pump (GHP) systems in the United States. While the "2021 U.S. Geothermal Power Production and District Heating Market Report" published by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) focused on direct-use geothermal district heating systems, it did not include an analysis of GHP installations (Robins et al. 2021). To bridge this gap, NREL has compiled a novel database currently containing 70,470 records of GHP installations, primarily sourced from state well permits and small-scale studies. Our methodology emphasizes the collection, cleaning, and standardization of data, addressing challenges such as inconsistent reporting formats and privacy concerns. Despite limitations in data on capacity, costs, and performance, our preliminary geospatial analysis reveals insights into the distribution of GHP systems across urban and rural areas and climate zones. The paper highlights the importance of publicly accessible data for advancing GHP technology adoption with a discussion of existing data sources and their limitations, advocating for improved collaboration between NREL and industry stakeholders.

• Research Organization: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Geothermal Technologies Office
• DOE Contract Number: AC36-08GO28308
• OSTI ID: 2524538
• Report Number(s): NREL/CP-5700-90951; MainId:92729; UUID:be01b558-28a6-42bf-9bb8-47b97c169e57; MainAdminId:73521
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
data collection
geospatial analysis
geothermal heat pumps (GHP)
market analysis