Geothermal energy is the heat contained within the rock and fluid in the earth’s crust. It's a source of clean, renewable energy with a small environmental footprint.
Geothermal energy can be used directly to provide heat or indirectly to produce electricity. Direct uses include heat for buildings, agriculture—such as greenhouse heating—or industrial uses like pulp and paper processing.
Geothermal energy can also be used on a smaller scale by geoexchange (heat pump) systems in buildings and homes. The temperature, depth, and location of the resource, as well as whether fluid and permeability are present, determine the ways in which it can be used.
Only resources hotter than 80°C when produced at surface through a well are governed by the Geothermal Resources Act.
Heat used for purposes other than generating electricity is called direct-use geothermal. Medium temperature geothermal energy can be used to provide heat to buildings or for commercial and industrial purposes including:
Geoexchange systems, also known as "geothermal", "geothermal heat pump" or "ground source" heat pumps, are the most efficient means of heating and cooling a building and providing hot water. The earth's surface under the frost line maintains a nearly constant temperature (10 – 16°C), remaining warmer than the air above it in the winter and cooler in the summer. Using low temperature geothermal energy, a geoexchange system transfers heat stored in the earth or in ground water into a building during the winter and transfers it back into the ground during the summer.
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The sedimentary basin in Northeast B.C. contains several aquifer systems that contain warm water. In some locations this may be a viable source of energy for small scale electricity generation or for direct heat uses.
Most areas do not have geothermal reservoirs but the subsurface is still very hot. In this case a geothermal reservoir may be created by hydraulic fracturing. Experimental Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) may provide power in the future.
British Columbia is situated on the Pacific Ocean “Ring of Fire” and has several volcanic regions conducive to geothermal energy. Geothermal resources have been identified in several areas of B.C. and more areas are being explored. Geothermal exploration has not yet proceeded to the development of a geothermal power plant.