Researchers from the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) have determined that geothermal energy could someday be a feasible energy source for the West Virginia National Guard’s (WVNG) Camp Dawson training facility in Preston County.
NETL’s Synergistic Fossil Integrations with Renewable Energy (SFIRE) project examines ways to use renewable energy resources like biomass feedstock, solid waste gasification, wind, solar, solid oxide fuel cells, and geothermal in combination with fossil energy fuels like coal and natural gas. The work helps find ways to expand the direct use of geothermal energy, maximizing the amount of useful power that can be obtained from the earth’s heat.
Geothermal energy is generated and stored deep inside the earth as radioactive elements decay in the earth’s magma. In 2010, a swath of Appalachia was identified as a geothermal energy hot spot where generation of 14–18 GW of electricity capacity is possible. These deep geothermal resources could be suitable for direct-use applications like heating, cooling, and manufacturing processes.
WVNG officials asked NETL to investigate the feasibility of using geothermal “direct-use” heating from sources beneath Camp Dawson in Preston County. The facility is a state-owned and federally funded training facility that was originally built in 1909.
The SFIRE team presented results of the study at the 2016 WV Governor’s Energy Summit. The work led to conclusions that there is a range of potential geothermal opportunities at Camp Dawson, but additional research is needed to reduce the uncertainty of project costs and resource assessment.
NETL’s Dan Oryshchyn said a geothermal approach to providing heat to Camp Dawson could use a system of heat exchangers, pumps, and controllers for managing water flow and building temperature. He said that based on his research, “this resource can last many years longer than similarly accessible fossil energy resources.”
