Geothermal Heating

What is Geothermal District Heating & Cooling? Those who live in areas with significant geological activity may already be enjoying the benefits of geothermal energy without even realizing it. Whether warm water that is sent above ground by high pressure beneath the Earth is used directly as water or used to heat pipes, it is a type of geothermal energy. Several countries that have an excess of geothermal energy have brought power plants online that actually heat homes directly though the conductivity of hot water that is delivered to customers through pipes.

Turkey and Italy are both countries that pioneered the centralized use of direct heating with geothermally heated water. These large projects tend to be located in mountainous districts and provinces that are otherwise somewhat impoverished for lack or arable land. This boon has improved winter living conditions throughout the regions where installed and operational.

Many of these projects were also experimental in that they received funding from various government sponsored grants as well as those from non-governmental organizations such as the United Nations and private foundations that fund "renewable" energy projects across the world.

What they've found is that geothermal energy is not only safe, but with the rise of oil prices, has become very competitive. Even if they were operated for profit, Geothermal District Heating & Cooling systems are generally quite profitable after the initial investment is recovered, since they tend to run for years with minimal maintenance and few moving parts unless operated for the generation of electricity. However, most systems are used directly for heat.

Perhaps the biggest investment in such systems is in the pipes that actually deliver the hot water. If care is not taken to ensure high quality materials are employed, serious leaks can develop over time that can be difficult and expensive to fix, especially if the pipes are buried underground. Those with hot water in them already will actually loose heat to the ground in such a system, so the pipes are usually left to hang in the air, which is a terrible conductor of heat.

Those who live in areas without much geological activity, such as the flat interiors of continents, will probably not have a choice about being part of a geothermal district heating and cooling scheme. However, using heat exchange pumps to take advantage of the ambient temperature of the Earth (usually between 45-50F or 8-10C, year-long) allows you to gently heat and cool your home or business with a minimum of investment or fuss, even in places that are otherwise quite stable.

These plants have proven successful enough in areas of geologic activity that several other EU countries have expressed interest in district-wide heating schemes. Those that use lengths of pipe buried in lakes or long stretches of ground can also provide cooling in the summer, though only supplemental heating in the winter.

Geothermal Heating |