GEOTHERMAL ENERGY UPDATE...By Lorraine A. Manz We didn’t know it then, but in 2011 North...
Transcript of GEOTHERMAL ENERGY UPDATE...By Lorraine A. Manz We didn’t know it then, but in 2011 North...
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By Lorraine A. Manz
Wedidn’tknowitthen,butin2011NorthDakota’sgeothermal(groundsource)heatpump(GHP)industrywasridingthecrestofawavethatwasabouttobreak.Beginningin2012,thenumberofgeothermalenergyextractionpermitapplicationssubmittedtotheNDGSbegantodwindle.Bytheendoflastyearithadfallentojust38,an85%decreasefromthe2011recordhighof239andthelowestannualtotalsince2004.Thefiguresfor2017lookworseyet(fig.1).
GEOTHERMAL ENERGY UPDATE
Why the Numbers are Down
“We use a flame that burns at approximately 3,000°F to heat our homes when we only need 76-80°F. Why do we do that?” Dr. Xiaobing Liu, GHP technologies researcher, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
NorthDakotaisnottheonlystatewitnessingsuchadramaticdownturn.Others, including Iowa and Minnesota, have observed similar trendsoverthesamefourteen-yearperiod,althoughjudgingbythenumberofGHPshipmentsthrough2015thisdoesnotappeartobeanationwideproblem(Lapsaandothers,2017a).
ThedecisiontoinstallaGHPheatingandcoolingsystemisaffectedbyavarietyofdemographic,economic,andregulatoryconsiderationsbutmorethananythingelse;theoverridingconcerniscost. GHPsarethemostefficientandenvironmentallyfriendlyheatingandcoolingsystemsin theworld, capable of reducing energy consumptionby asmuch as65%comparedtoconventionalheating,ventilation,andairconditioning(HVAC)systems(Liuandothers,2015,2016).Yetinspiteofthisandtheirnumerousotherbenefits,(seebox)thehighup-frontcostofGHPsystemsisthemainreason(closelyfollowedbylackofconsumerawareness)whytheirshareoftheHVACmarketremainssosmall(≈1%)(Hughes,2008;EIA,2017a;Lapsaandothers,2017b).
Tohelpdefraythishighpricetagandencourageconsumer investmentin the technology,GHPsareeligible forawide rangeof federal, state,andutilitiesfinancialincentiveprograms.ThereareseveralavailableinNorthDakota(DSIRE,2017)butinrecentyears,twosignificanttaxcreditsexpiredandhavenotbeenextendedorsuperseded.Thefirsttogowas
Benefits of geothermal heat pumps
• GHPsusestoredsolarenergyfrombelowtheearth’ssurface,whichisubiquitousandrenewable
• Efficient – energy savings as much as 65% overconventionalHVACs
• ReduceCO2 emissions• Safe alternative to fossil fuels – no risk of fire,
explosion, or CO poisoning • Reliable(lowmaintenance,moreeventemperature
distributionthroughoutthebuilding)• Quietandunobtrusive–littletonovisualimpact• Create jobs – most components are made in the
USA,installationrequiresaskilled,locallaborforce• Help reduce peak power demand in summer and
winter• Lastalongtime(heatpump:25years,groundloop:
50+years)• Freehotwater• Lowenvironmentalimpact–donotobstructflyways
ordisrupthabitat• Work24/7andarenotweatherdependent
Sources:https://www.geoexchange.orghttps://energy.gov/energysaver/geothermal-heat-pumps
a renewable energy income tax credit, introduced under Section 57-38-01 of the North Dakota Century Code in2001,thatentitledcorporations(andindividualtaxpayersafterDecember31,2008)toa15%taxbreakonthecostof purchasing and installing a GHP system. The creditexpiredattheendof2014.
Figure 1.Greenandbluestackedcolumnsrepresentthenum-berofresidentialandcommercialgeothermalenergyextrac-tionpermits, respectively, issuedannuallyby theNDGSbe-tween2004and2017.Residentialsystemsinstalledpriortothe introductionof comprehensivepermitting inApril 2007arebasedoncompletionreportcounts.2017numbersasof10/31/17.
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In2008thefederalgovernment’sEnergyImprovementandExten-sionActexpandeda30%($2,000max.)residentialtaxcreditpre-viously reserved for solar systems and fuel cells to include small wind-energysystemsandGHPs,andextendedits2008expirationdatetoDecember31,2016.The$2,000capwasremovedayearlaterbyTheAmericanRecoveryandReinvestmentActof2009.Credits forsolarandwindenergytechnologiesweregrantedanadditional five-year extension with the signing of The Consoli-datedAppropriationsActinDecember2015.Allothers,includingGHPs, arehistory– adevastatingblow to the industry thathasbeenfeltacrossthecountry(Dougherty,2016,2017).
To North Dakota homeowners these two credits represented aminimumsavingof45%onthepurchaseandinstallationofageo-thermalsystemandintermsofinitialcostputGHPsonaparwithconventional,but lessenergy-efficientHVACsystems. However,thelossofthesecreditsisnottheonlyreasonwhyNorthDakota’sGHPmarketisintrouble.Inrecentyearsaclearrelationshiphasemerged between interest in GHP technology and the price ofnaturalgas(Tanguay,2017),especiallyinareaswherenaturalgasisreadilyavailableandcheap.
ThepriceofnaturalgasinNorthDakotaissignificantlybelowthenational average (EIA 2017b) and from 2010 onwards shows astrong correlationwithpermit activity (fig. 2). (Anyassociationpriortothisispartlyobscuredbyotherfactorssuchasthecom-mencementof various subsidyprograms,anda change in statepermitting requirements.) With natural gas prices projected toremainlowforthenextseveralyears(EIA,2017a)thefutureforGHPsinNorthDakotadoesnotlookgood.But...
Iamafirmbeliever inGHPtechnologyforall thereasonsgivenintheboxandbecausethesystemthatwasinstalledinmyownhomeseven-and-a-halfyearsago(Manz,2010)hasliveduptoex-pectations ineverywayexcept,perhaps,paybacktimewhich isgoingtobelongerthanweoriginallyanticipated(anotherconse-
quenceofthelowpriceofnaturalgas).Moreover,Iamconfidentthat,intheend,thebenefitsofGHPsaregoingtowinout–theyare too compelling to ignore as thedemand for clean, efficientenergycontinuestorise.Thefederalgovernmentrecognizesthisand, inspiteofaxingconsumersubsidies,continuesto invest inGHPtechnologiesthroughgrantsandprogramsliketheU.S.De-partment of Energy’sGeoVision Study (DOE, 2014). Under thedirectionoftheGeothermalTechnologiesOffice(GTO)GeoVisionisacomprehensiveassessmentofthegrowthpotentialofGHPsandallotherformsofgeothermalenergythrough2050.Theaimistodevelopstrategiesandtechnologiesthatwillbringdownthebarriersofcostandmarketskepticismthatcurrentlyhamper itsroleasamajorcontributortoreducingenergyconsumptionandgreenhousegasemissions.
Closertohome,theNorthDakotaDepartmentofCommerce,Of-fice of Renewable Energy& Energy Efficiency recently commis-sionedastudytoevaluatetheperformancecharacteristicsofex-istingGHPsystemsinNorthDakota(Yuandothers,2017).Resultsfromthetwenty-fourcasestudiesincludedintheinvestigationaremore-or-less consistentwith national trends (Hughes, 2008; Liuandothers,2015,2016)butthelocalemphasisisinvaluable.Thefinalreportisanimpartialsourceofreference,basedonmeaning-fuldata,thatwillassistNorthDakotaconsumersandpolicymakersinmakingwell-informeddecisionsaboutGHPdeployment.
BuildingsareAmerica’senergyguzzlersandthedemandisgrow-ing.IntheU.S.residentialandcommercialbuildings(offices,re-tail,schools,hospitals,etc.)areresponsibleforabout40%ofpri-maryenergyconsumptionandtotalCO2emissions(upwardsof2milliontonnesperyear),74%ofelectricityconsumption,and56%ofnaturalgasconsumption.Atleast50%oftheenergyconsumedbytheaveragesingle-familyhomeisforspaceheatingandcooling(DOE,2012). Oneofthemostcost-effectivewaystoreduceen-ergyconsumptionandCO2emissionsistotargetbuildings.GHPscandothat,anddoitwell.
ReferencesDatabase of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency
(DSIRE), 2017. http://www.dsireuse.org (retrieved 13October2017).
Dougherty,D.,2016,Losingenergytaxcredithurtscleanertech-nologies:RollCall.http://www.rollcall.com/news/opin-ion/losing-energy-tax-credit-hurts-cleaner-technolo-gies-climate-change-geothermal-heat-pumps(retrieved 5October2017).
Figure 2. GeothermalpermitsissuedbytheNDGS(seefigure1 for explanation) versus North Dakota residential (yellowcircles)andcommercial(orangecircles)annualaveragenaturalgaspricesindollarsper1,000cubicfeet(MCF).Source:U.S.EnergyInformationAdministration(2017b).
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Dougherty,D.,2017,AresolutionforCongress:TheGeothermalExchange Organization. https://www.geoexchange.org/a-resolution-for-congress/(retrieved5October2017).
Hughes, P. J., 2008,Geothermal (ground-source) heat pumps –market status, barriers to adoption, and actions to over-comebarriers:OakRidgeNationalLaboratoryReportORNL/TM-2008/232,46p.
Lapsa,M., Khowailed, G., Sikes, K., and Baxter, V., 2017a, HeatpumpsinNorthAmerica–2017regionalreport:12thInter-nationalEnergyAgencyHeatPumpConference,Rotterdam,2017.
Lapsa,M.,Khowailed,G.,Sikes,K.,andBaxter,V.,2017b,TheU.S.residentialheatpumpmarket,adecadeafter“TheCrisis”:12th InternationalEnergyAgencyHeatPumpConference,Rotterdam,2017.
Liu,X.,Hughes,P.,andAnderson,A.,2016,Anoverviewofgeo-thermalheatpumpapplicationsandapreliminaryassess-ment of its technical potential in theUnited States:Geo-thermalResourcesCouncilTransactions,v.40,p.707-716.http://cbey.yale.edu/sites/default/files/GRCVol40%20pages%20707-716%20Liu.pdf(retrieved13October2017).
Liu,X.,Malhotra,M.,Im,P.,andHabibzade,B.,2015,CasestudiesforGSHPdemonstrationprojects in theUS: InternationalEnergy Agency Heat Pump Center Newsletter, v. 33, no.3/2015, p. 29-33. http://heatpumpingtechnologies.org/publications/52752/(retrieved13October2017).
Manz,L.A.,2010,Retrofittingwithgeothermal,GeoNews,v.37,no.2,p.8-10.
Tanguay, D., 2017, Fundamental economic analysis of groundsourcesheatpumpmarkets inNorthAmerica:12th Inter-nationalEnergyAgencyHeatPumpConference,Rotterdam,2017.
U.S. Department of Energy, 2012, 2011 Buildings Energy DataBook. https://catalog.data.gov/dataset/buildings-energy-data-book-6d4d2(retrieved17October2017).
U.S. Department of Energy, 2014, Geothermal Vision Study.https://energy.gov/eere/geothermal/geothermal-vision-study(retrieved17October2017).
U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2017a, Annual energyoutlook2017:Washington,D.C.,U.S.DepartmentofEnergy.https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/aeo/databrowser/#/?id=30-AEO2017®ion=0-0&cases=ref2017&start=2015&end=2050&f=A&linechart=ref2017-d120816a.12-30-AEO2017&ctype=linechart&sourcekey=0(retrieved17October2017).
U.S.EnergyInformationAdministration,2017b,NaturalGasPrices:Washington,D.C.,U.S.DepartmentofEnergy.https://www.eia.gov/dnav/ng/ng_pri_sum_dcu_SND_a.htm(retrieved2 October2017).
Yu,Y.,Miao,R.,andMiller,L.,2017,Studyandevaluationofop-erating experiences with existing geothermal heat pumpsystemsinNorthDakota–finalreport:PreparedbyNorthDakotaStateUniversity,DepartmentofConstructionMan-agementandEngineeringfortheStateEnergyProgramofNorthDakotaDepartmentofCommerce,158p.
GeoNews Short Note:
Central & Eastern U.S. Seismic Network (CEUSN) – Accessibility of Seismic
Monitoring Data
In the January2017 issueofGeoNews,geologistFredAnderson reportedonNorthDakota’scurrentseismicmonitoringcapabilities.Inthisarticle,readerswhowereinterestedinviewingnear real-time seismic data from seismometers inNorthDakota and around theworldwerereferredtotheRapidEarthquakeViewerwebsitethatwasbeingmaintainedbytheUniversityofSouthCarolina.ShortlyafterpublicationoftheJanuaryissueofGeoNewsthesemonitoringcapabilitieswerediscontinued.
ReadersarenowreferredtotheUniversityofCaliforniaSanDiego(UCSD)inLaJolla,Californiawherecompleteandconvenientaccessviathewebtothelatest24-hoursofseismicmonitoringstationdataforstationsinNorthDakota,aswellastheentireCEUSN,iscurrentlybeingprovidedandcanbereadilyaccessedbyvisitingtheCEUSNwebsiteat:http://ceusn.ucsd.edu/
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