Geothermal Heat Pumps: Principles and Applications

Usually buildings consume large amount of electricity for heating and cooling purposes, which can reach higher than 40%. Heat pumps are highly efficient devices that are used to lower energy consumption because they just require a little amount of electric power to trans-fer heat from a lower to a higher temperature source, which is the opposite of the natural flow. Green-house gas emissions can be reduced consequently if the electric power input is supplied from renewable energy sources such as hydropower, geothermal or solar energy. These devices can provide two to six times more energy output from the input energy required for system operation. Thermodynamic analysis is done for heating and cooling cycles of the heat pumps. Moreover, the different types and configurations will be discussed in addition to its various applications in real life. At the end, it is a useful device that can be used to lower energy consumption and emissions.