CO2 EMISSION REDUCTIONS FOR GEOTHERMAL HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS IN THE NORTHEAST AND MID-ATLANTIC UNITED STATES
Geothermal Heat Pump systems developed in the US largely because of the demand for space cooling in single-family houses. About fifteen years ago geothermal heat pump systems with borehole heat exchangers (BHE) were being applied to larger buildings. The motivation to reduce or avoid greenhouse gas emissions has spurred geothermal technologies in the last ten plus years. To estimate the impact of GHP installations on avoidance of CO2 emissions, nine commercial installations in New Jersey were studied. In all cases emissions were reduced over a conventional system. If high efficiency GHP systems were installed the avoided emissions were between 31% and 50% of a gas boiler/ cooling tower system. These results are extrapolated for other similar climates with different fuel mixtures.