Thursday, December 27, 2018

USA, Idaho: The Boise Geothermal District Heating System

How geothermal energy heats the city of Boise (Idaho News.com)

The City of Boise posts plaques on the buildings
around town that use geothermal energy.
There are only a handful of places around the country that are able to use geothermal energy — Boise is home to the nation's largest system.

There's a fault line in the Boise Foothills, where historically there have been dozens of hot springs, which has been being tapped into now for 35 years as a way to provide heat for the city.

There are 92 buildings downtown that are heated using geothermal energy — among them are several hotels, the YMCA, Boise High School, City Hall, the Ada County Courthouse, and parts of Boise State University.

In 1999, the city installed an injection well at Julia Davis Park which allows every gallon that is taken out of the ground to be put back into the exact same aquifer— making the City of Boise a sustainable closed loop system.