When you hear “geothermal,” what comes to mind?
Maybe it’s bubbling hot springs in Yellowstone, or that one volcano in Iceland that won’t stop erupting. (It still is, I checked).
Either way, it’s probably a massive field of heat and steam that you’d rather observe from afar, and not something you’d want in your backyard or the alleyway next to your apartment.
But a new generation of heat pumps are taking advantage of the Earth’s heat to both warm and cool big buildings and whole neighborhoods, no volcanoes required. Ground-source heat pumps work similarly to electric air-source heat pumps, which transfer heat in and out of a room to warm or cool it without need for fossil fuels, but find a more powerful and reliable source of heat in the Earth.
And they’re already taking off. Minnesota is piloting networked geothermal systems to keep government buildings, housing developments and schools warm through the winter and cool in the summer. A Chicago neighborhood wants to connect more than 100 homes to a networked system, squeezing boreholes in the alleys between buildings. And a Massachusetts gas utility has already unveiled networked geothermal in a Boston-area neighborhood, and is looking to repurpose existing infrastructure for future projects.
Despite their potential to slash emissions and low operating costs, for now, geothermal heat-pump systems remain too expensive for most homeowners and to install. But they’ve still got potential as a way to repurpose oil and gas drilling equipment and infrastructure, and could help pave a new, zero-emission path forward for the fossil fuel industry.
— Kathryn Krawczyk
More clean energy news
🚗 EVs go farther: While the average electric vehicle today gets the equivalent of 106 miles per gallon, new technology could double that number to more than 200 in the coming decades, a report suggests. (Washington Post)
🏭 Questioning a gas buildout: Utilities across the Southeast want to build new natural gas-fired power plants to meet escalating power demand, even though advocates say clean energy and battery storage can handle the job. (Canary Media)
🔌Grid waitlist grows: About 2.6 TW of power projects — 95% of them solar, battery and wind developments — were waiting to connect to the U.S. grid at the end of last year, up 27% from the year before. (Utility Dive)
🍳 Electrification’s still simmering: Clean energy advocates and professional cooks continue to work to electrify restaurant kitchens and homes in Berkeley, California, even after a court shot down the city’s natural gas-hookup ban. (Guardian)
💵 Cleaner for cheaper: The U.S. Interior Department finalizes a rule that will cut fees as much as 80% for solar and wind projects on federal land as it celebrates a milestone of permitting more than 25 GW of renewable projects under President Biden. (The Hill, Reuters)
📄 Getting clean energy to tribes: An Indigenous researcher says tribes need application support, better access to information, and resources to build better infrastructure, in addition to funding to adopt clean energy. (Grist)
📦 Prime charging: Amazon has installed more than 17,000 electric vehicle chargers at its warehouses over the last two years, making it the biggest U.S. private charging operator as it easily surpasses competitors’ clean vehicle goals. (Bloomberg)
🧩 Steel the deal: Experts discuss the pitfalls and potential for green hydrogen to clean up the emissions-heavy steelmaking industry. (Canary Media)
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