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Geothermal Academy: Focus Center for Data Collection, Analysis and Dissemination

This is a summary of a project funded on a cost-shared basis by the U.S. Department of Energy through its Geothermal Technologies Program (GTP). This work is one of several projects funded by GTP under its mission to conduct research, development, and demonstration to advance geothermal energy technologies. This summary was prepared as part of the application process by the subsequent recipient of a funding opportunity grant and is offered only as a general overview of the project's scope and direction at the time of the award.

Project Technology Type Ground Source Heat Pumps › Data Gathering and Analysis
Awardee Colorado School of Mines
Location Golden, CO
Objectives

Develop a sufficiently robust data collection and analysis framework.
Funding Opportunity Announcement DE-FOA-0000116: Recovery Act – Geothermal Technologies Program: Ground Source Heat Pumps (PDF 236 KB) Download Adobe Reader.
Funding Source American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
DOE Funding Level* Total Award: $245,797
Awardee Cost Share $91,080
Total Project Cost $336,877
Principal Investigator(s) Masami Nakagawa, Colorado School of Mines
Description

According to Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the most urgent action to address barriers to Ground Source Heat Pump (GHP) installation in the built environment and to facilitate rapid growth of the GHP industry is the generation of "independent, statistically valid, hard data on the costs and benefits of GHPs." In response to this immediate need for independent data, the Geothermal Academy (GA) at the Colorado School of Mines intends to become the hub for the networked community of existing and future geothermal projects and institutional programs.
Targets/Milestones

  • Accommodate many different kinds of GHP systems, installation environments, and incentive programs

  • Integrate scientific and technical expertise from the socio-economic, energy, and environmental performance of GHP systems into a broader, policy-oriented superstructure. This will provide policymakers with the understanding to make better decisions regarding GHPs as a practical and costeffective renewable energy as well as an energy efficiency technology

The outcomes of the project will be published in the Geothermal Academy Research Report. This Report will contain:

  • An integrated data-collection framework and template for use in a wide variety of GHP demonstration projects, with detailed explanations of standards, collection and measurement methodologies and needed equipment, and the relevance for each type of data;

  • A conceptual analytical framework to aggregate technical data into policy-level metrics for use by policy-makers and energy policy experts;

  • A focused analytical framework for modeling decision-tools. This framework will address the aggregation of technical data into customer-level metrics for use by prospective GHP customers in analyzing system cost and performance to aid in purchase and design decisions.
Impacts Enable policymakers and customers to make better decisions regarding GHPs as a practical and cost effective renewable energy and energy efficiency technology with a new analysis and information clearinghouse. Educational/training opportunity.

*DOE Funding Level is up to the amount stated and is subject to negotiation.