II 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3619 

To amend the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to improve 

geothermal energy technology and demonstrate the use of geothermal 

energy in large scale thermal applications, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 20, 2010 

Mr. TESTER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Energy Independence and Security Act of 

2007 to improve geothermal energy technology and demonstrate the use of geothermal energy in large scale 

thermal applications, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. LARGE-SCALE GEOTHERMAL ENERGY. 

4 Title VI of the Energy Independence and Security 

5 Act of 2007 is amended by inserting after section 616 (42 

6 U.S.C. 17195) the following: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 616A. LARGE-SCALE GEOTHERMAL ENERGY. 

8 ‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the Geothermal Technologies Program of 

2 the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable En3 ergy of the Department has included a focus on di4 rect use of geothermal energy in the low-temperature 

5 geothermal energy subprogram (including in the de6 velopment of a research and development plan for 

7 the program); 

8 ‘‘(2) the Building Technologies Program of the 

9 Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy 

10 of the Department— 

11 ‘‘(A) is focused on the energy demand and 

12 energy efficiency of buildings; and 

13 ‘‘(B) includes geothermal heat pumps as a 

14 component technology in the residential and 

15 commercial deployment activities of the pro16 gram; and 

17 ‘‘(3) geothermal heat pumps and direct use of 

18 geothermal energy, especially in large-scale applica19 tions, can make a significant contribution to the use 

20 of renewable energy but are underrepresented in re21 search, development, demonstration, and commer22 cialization. 

23 ‘‘(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this section are— 


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1 ‘‘(1) to improve the components, processes, and 

2 systems used for geothermal heat pumps and the di3 rect use of geothermal energy; and 

4 ‘‘(2) to increase the energy efficiency, lower the 

5 cost, increase the use, and improve and demonstrate 

6 the applicability of geothermal heat pumps to, and 

7 the direct use of geothermal energy in, large build8 ings, commercial districts, residential communities, 

9 and large municipal, agricultural, or industrial 

10 projects. 

11 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

12 ‘‘(1) DIRECT USE OF GEOTHERMAL ENERGY.— 

13 The term ‘direct use of geothermal energy’ means 

14 systems that use water that is at a temperature be15 tween approximately 38 degrees Celsius and 149 de16 grees Celsius directly or through a heat exchanger to 

17 provide— 

18 ‘‘(A) heating to buildings; or 

19 ‘‘(B) heat required for industrial processes, 

20 agriculture, aquaculture, and other facilities. 

21 ‘‘(2) GEOTHERMAL HEAT PUMP.—The term 

22 ‘geothermal heat pump’ means a system that pro23 vides heating and cooling by exchanging heat from 

24 shallow ground or surface water using— 


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1 ‘‘(A) a closed loop system, which transfers 

2 heat via buried or immersed pipes that contain 

3 a mix of water and antifreeze; or 

4 ‘‘(B) an open loop system, which circulates 

5 ground or surface water directly into the build6 ing and returns the water to the same aquifer 

7 or surface water source. 

8 ‘‘(3) LARGE-SCALE APPLICATION.—The term 

9 ‘large-scale application’ means an application for 

10 space or process heating or cooling for large entities, 

11 such as a large building, commercial district, resi12 dential community, or a large municipal, agricul13 tural, or industrial project. 

14 ‘‘(4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 

15 Secretary of Energy, acting through the Assistant 

16 Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable En17 ergy. 

18 ‘‘(d) PROGRAM.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab20 lish a program of research, development, demonstra21 tion, and commercial application for geothermal heat 

22 pumps and the direct use of geothermal energy. 

23 ‘‘(2) AREAS.—The program may include re24 search, development, demonstration, and commercial 

25 application of— 


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1 ‘‘(A) geothermal ground loop efficiency im2 provements through more efficient heat transfer 

3 fluids; 

4 ‘‘(B) geothermal ground loop efficiency im5 provements through more efficient thermal 

6 grouts for wells and trenches; 

7 ‘‘(C) geothermal ground loop installation 

8 cost reduction through— 

9 ‘‘(i) improved drilling methods; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) improvements in drilling equip11 ment; 

12 ‘‘(D) installing geothermal ground loops 

13 near the foundation walls of new construction 

14 to take advantage of existing structures; 

15 ‘‘(E) using gray or black wastewater as a 

16 method of heat exchange; 

17 ‘‘(F) improving geothermal heat pump sys18 tem economics through integration of geo19 thermal systems with other building systems, 

20 including providing hot and cold water and re21 jecting or circulating industrial process heat 

22 through refrigeration heat rejection and waste 

23 heat recovery; 

24 ‘‘(G) advanced geothermal systems using 

25 variable pumping rates to increase efficiency; 


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1 ‘‘(H) geothermal heat pump efficiency im2 provements; 

3 ‘‘(I) use of hot water found in mines and 

4 mine shafts and other surface waters as the 

5 heat exchange medium; 

6 ‘‘(J) heating of districts, neighborhoods, 

7 communities, large commercial or public build8 ings (including office, retail, educational, gov9 ernment, and institutional buildings and multi10 family residential buildings and campuses), and 

11 industrial and manufacturing facilities; 

12 ‘‘(K) geothermal system integration with 

13 solar thermal water heating or cool roofs and 

14 solar-regenerated desiccants to balance loads 

15 and use building hot water to store geothermal 

16 energy; 

17 ‘‘(L) use of hot water coproduced from oil 

18 and gas recovery; 

19 ‘‘(M) use of water sources at a tempera20 ture of less than 150 degrees Celsius for direct 

21 use; 

22 ‘‘(N) system integration of direct use with 

23 geothermal electricity production; and 

24 ‘‘(O) coproduction of heat and power, in25 cluding on-site use. 


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1 ‘‘(3) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS.—In carrying 

2 out the program, the Secretary shall identify and 

3 mitigate potential environmental impacts in accord4 ance with section 614(c). 

5 ‘‘(e) GRANTS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall make 

7 grants available to State and local governments, in8 stitutions of higher education, nonprofit entities, 

9 utilities, and for-profit companies (including manu10 facturers of heat-pump and direct-use components 

11 and systems) to promote the development of geo12 thermal heat pumps and the direct use of geo13 thermal energy. 

14 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY.—In making grants under this 

15 subsection, the Secretary shall give priority to pro16 posals that apply to large buildings (including office, 

17 retail, educational, government, institutional, and 

18 multifamily residential buildings and campuses and 

19 industrial and manufacturing facilities), commercial 

20 districts, and residential communities. 

21 ‘‘(3) NATIONAL SOLICITATION.—Not later than 

22 180 days after the date of enactment of this section, 

23 the Secretary shall conduct a national solicitation for 

24 applications for grants under this section. 

25 ‘‘(f) REPORTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years 

2 after the date of enactment of this section and annu3 ally thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the 

4 Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the 

5 Senate and the Committee on Science and Tech6 nology of the House of Representatives a report on 

7 progress made and results obtained under this sec8 tion to develop geothermal heat pumps and direct 

9 use of geothermal energy. 

10 ‘‘(2) AREAS.—Each of the reports required 

11 under this subsection shall include— 

12 ‘‘(A) an analysis of progress made in each 

13 of the areas described in subsection (d)(2); and 

14 ‘‘(B)(i) a description of any relevant rec15 ommendations made during a review of the pro16 gram; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) any plans to address the rec18 ommendations under clause (i). 

19 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

20 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 

21 out this section such sums as are necessary for each of 

22 fiscal years 2011 through 2015.’’. 

Æ 


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