Strategic Plan for the Geothermal Energy Program, Geothermal Direct-use Applications

Download or read book Strategic Plan for the Geothermal Energy Program, Geothermal Direct-use Applications written by Oregon Institute of Technology (Klamath Falls, Or.). Geo-Heat Center and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 28 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Direct or non-electric utilization of geothermal energy refers to the immediate use of the heat energy rather than to its conversion to some other form such as electric energy. The primary applications of direct-use include swimming, bath and balneology (therapeutic use), space heating and cooling (including district energy systems), agriculture (mainly greenhouse heating and some animal husbandry), aquaculture (mainly fish pond and raceway heating), and industrial processes. In the past, direct-use geothermal energy projects were smaller in scale than geothermal electric power projects. More recent developments involve large-scale projects, such as district heating, greenhouse complexes, or major industrial uses such as grain and vegetable dehydration, heap leaching of gold ore, timber drying, mineral extraction, and pulp and paper processing. In order to assess the needs for USDOE to promote and assist in getting more geothermal direct use projects online, both domestically and internationally, and with the benefit of reducing the production of greenhouse gases, a questionnaire was developed and a working group of knowledgeable experts was convened. With input from the questionnaire, the working group addressed Strategic Goal 2 - Expand Direct Uses of Geothermal Resources of the USDOE Office of Geothermal Technologies Strategic Plan and developed an Action Plan. The objectives and strategies, along with the costs over the 10-year time period recommended by the working group follows.