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A ground source (geothermal) heat pump (GSHP) produces thermal renewable energy for use within a home or office. Its use of pumps to circulate a liquid under the ground and its use of a compressor to convert this liquid back into hot air means the term "transfer" is not a suitable description of the process. Of the warmed air circulated into the building, 99% is thermal energy extracted from the ground and is classified as renewable energy. The system requires grid electricity to operate the motors, and federal regulations require the system efficiency to be rated as a minimum of 3.8 Coefficient Of Performance (COP). This means for every kWh of power consumed to run motors, the system must (or watersuitabut the complexity of the process clearly uses the word "production." it is clearly into An association that promotes greater transparency on carbon emissions, by addressing barriers which prevent adoption of clean energy technologies from being qualified as renewable energy. It is difficult to transition off fossil fuels with our current plethora of energy measurements, from calorie & Btu & m3, to hp & mtoe & bbl, and many more. If energy output is measured in kWh and capacity in kW, it is easy to compare options, as well as the impact of options on GHG emissions. Few people understand energy, but society is transitioning to electric and most people have a basic understanding of kWh measures. Once this standardized measure is adopted, another key step is to consider the technology of ground source heat pump (GSHP) which produces thermal renewable energy from the earth on a fully dispatchable (no batteries required) basis.
Citing 2022 data on 15.4 million households (house or apartment) across Canada, the average dwelling consumes 21,307 kWh a year of secondary energy for space heating, space cooling & water heating, plus another 5,094 kWh for lights & appliances. Installation of a GSHP would produce 21,307 kWh of thermal output, but would require 5,918 kWh to operate compressor & pumps at minimal efficiency. The cost to install GSHP is lower if done during building construction, when excavation equipment is on site and before the property is landscaped.
With GSHP, each household would produce 21,307 kWh of dispatchable renewable energy and consume 11,012 (5,918 + 5,094) kWh of grid power so it can be classified AND verified as NetZeroPLUS. That household would also stop emitting 3,148 kg of carbon each year as a result of its new supply of thermal energy.
If ALL residential & commercial buildings in Canada installed GSHP, they would produce 548 billion kWh a year of renewable energy and reduce emissions by 84 billion kg of carbon. It would allow a PTC (Production Thermal Credit) to incent efficiency, and offer other benefits to the building owner, our economy and our environment.
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