§17195a Geothermal Heat Pumps and Direct Use Research and Development

Summary

The Secretary of Energy must run a research and demonstration program in the Geothermal Technologies Office to study and improve geothermal heat pumps and direct use of geothermal energy. The program will work to make these technologies more efficient, cheaper, more widely used, and better proven in real projects. It must also identify and reduce any environmental harms under section 17193(b). Definitions: Direct use of geothermal energy — using water or a heat exchanger to heat or cool buildings or to provide heat for industry, farms, or aquaculture. Economically distressed area — an area defined in section 3161(a). Geothermal heat pump — a system that heats and cools by exchanging heat with shallow ground or water using either buried pipe loops or circulating groundwater. The program may study things like ground-loop improvements, building and seasonal storage, grid services, heat pump efficiency, alternative fluids (for example mine water or graywater), district and industrial heating, low-temperature groundwater use, and combining direct use with geothermal power. The Secretary must offer funding to states, tribes, local governments, colleges, nonprofits, national labs, utilities, and companies, and may give priority to projects for large buildings, districts, or communities in economically distressed places or areas the 2019 "GeoVision" report finds promising for geothermal district heating.