A modeling analysis led by the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory gives the first detailed look at how geothermal energy can relieve the electric power system and reduce carbon emissions if widely implemented across the United States within the next few decades. 

Researchers created a simulation model of the mass deployment of geothermal heat pumps, or GHPs, in commercial and residential buildings from 2022 through 2050. The simulation results indicated that if GHPs, also known as ground-source heat pumps, were deployed on a national scale along with building envelope improvements in single-family homes, the stress on the power grid would be relieved, energy costs lowered and carbon dioxide emissions reduced substantially.

“GHPs have traditionally been seen as a building energy efficiency technology,” said ORNL’s Xiaobing Liu, who served as the primary researcher on the study. “This analysis found that GHPs have a tremendous impact on electric power systems by reducing the requirements in capacity, generation, and transmission, as well as carbon emissions.”