Team of EPM students, dubbed "GeoDavis", enters into Department of Energy collegiate competition
Quick Summary
- A team of EPM students, named GeoDavis, entered into the US Department of Energy's Geothermal Collegiate Competition. Their findings will be used by local climate advocates as they continue to push for renewable energy in Truckee.
The US Department of Energy's Geothermal Collegiate Competition invites teams from college institutions to develop real-world geothermal solutions while competing for cash prizes and gaining resume experience in the renewable energy industry (US DOE). By partnering with stakeholders that may not already be aware of geothermal technology, the DOE Geothermal Technologies Office aims to raise awareness of geothermal energy, its applications and benefits to broaden the geothermal stakeholder base.
Driven by the passion for a cleaner and more resilient future, a team of UC Davis EPM students decided to enter into the competition. The group, named "GeoDavis", was advised by Dr. Sudeep Kanungo, a Science and Technology Policy Fellow at the DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and Dr. Alessandro Ossola, an Assistant Professor in Plant Sciences at UC Davis.
The group was tasked with researching the feasibility of installing geothermal heating and cooling pumps in a community or school of their choice. After coming across this article written by Matt Tucker, Co-Lead of 100% Renewable Truckee, they proposed installing a vertical loop geothermal heating and cooling system to serve a campus with three schools in the Tahoe Truckee Unified School District (TTUSD). Ground source heat pumps (GSHPs) work by exchanging heat between underground and above ground. They take advantage of the fact that the temperature of the Earth below ground remains relatively constant throughout the year. Benefits of this project include reliable heating and cooling unaffected by inclement weather such as snow, cost savings, and advancement towards decarbonization and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
After contacting 100% Renewable Truckee, the GeoDavis team learned 100% Renewable Truckee was already collaborating with the Tahoe Citizens Climate Lobby (CCL) chapter to advocate for implementation of this system. This type of system has already been installed at Alder Creek Middle School in 2004. GeoDavis' proposal was that the system would be networked to Truckee High School, Truckee Elementary School, and the TTUSD Office. The Tahoe CCL has a youth chapter with a well-known advocate and Truckee High School student, Keira Scott, who the GeoDavis team met during a site visit along with Dierdre Henderson, founder of the Tahoe CCL. Dierdre was passionate and maintained contact throughout the project.
Watch the project summary here
For this competition, GeoDavis researched permitting, regulatory, financial, and engineering requirements, through CEQA, California Energy Commission, International Ground Source Heat Pump Association, Oak Ridge National Lab, National Renewable Energy Lab, the IRS, the EPA, the Department of Water Resources, Nevada County, and the Truckee Donner Public Utility District (TDPUD). They spoke to folks at the TTUSD, including facilities staff that were part of the original 2004 project and spoke to a member of the TDPUD Board of Directors, a member of Truckee Town Council, and Sugar Pine Engineering (for numeric data on installing a well). GeoDavis received written letters of support from these stakeholders. The team’s analysis indicated that, not only would a GSHP installation face minimal permitting and regulatory hurdles, but that such a system could pay for itself in electricity and maintenance savings in less than six years. These findings were met with enthusiasm by partners in Truckee.
Even though GeoDavis did not win the competition, the team feels extremely proud of the work they did.
We went from not knowing the first thing about geothermal energy to conducting a full site selection and feasibility analysis over the span of only three months. We are also excited that our findings and deliverables are being used by local climate advocates as they continue to push for renewable energy in Truckee.