Pisciotta et al. (2025): Advancing Geothermal Energy Utilization Opportunities: Potential and Strategies for Integrating Direct Air Capture
Maxwell Pisciotta, Hélène Pilorgéa, Likhwa Ndlovua, Madeleine Siegelb, Joe Huyettb, Todd Bandhauerb, Peter Psarrasa and Jennifer Wilcox, IN: Energy & Environmental Science, https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlehtml/2025/ee/d4ee04058a
This study explores the potential of geothermal resources to meet the thermal and electrical demands of DAC systems through the development of a geothermal-DAC evaluation framework. The framework examines configurations where binary geothermal power plants and DAC units are engineered to optimize geothermal resource use. These configurations are evaluated based on their CO₂ abatement potential, achieved by displacing carbon-intensive grid electricity and removing atmospheric CO₂. The framework was applied to two hypothetical geothermal resources, representing low (86 °C) and high (225 °C) temperature regimes for binary geothermal power plants, considering various organic Rankine cycle (ORC) working fluids. It was also tested on the Raft River binary geothermal combined cycle power plant.