A study on energy and CO2 saving potential of ground source heat pump system in India

In the past two decades, ground source heat pump (GSHP) system has made good impact on energy saving in the Western and European countries in heating/cooling and industrial applications. Their potential for reduction in CO2 emission has been very well utilized by these countries to contribute to a green environment. In this paper an attempt is made to give an overview about how India can benefit from this technology. The economic growth of India has huge impact on energy and environment of the country. Though Indian building sector is growing in multifold, still there is a demand for electricity to meet the needs of people. Any technology to reduce energy consumption will have great impact on people's life and economy. In this way a study has been carried out to estimate, to what extend the ground source heat pump technology can help India to reduce its energy demand and also save the environment. This study covers 10 provinces of northern part of India which require both heating and cooling. Based on the topography of the states, they are classified into severe winter states and moderate winter states for heating requirement. During winter period the conventional electric heaters consume electricity between 1416 and 7085 GW annually and for the same heating load GSHP consumes only 471-1416 GW. In summer months the electricity consumed by conventional air conditioner ranges between 5506 and 27,532 GW and by GSHP it varies from 4811 to 14,440 GW. The annual CO2 emission by the conventional systems used for heating and cooling vary between 5270 and 26,352 million kg of CO2. In the case of GSHP CO2 emission lies between 4022 and 12,071 million kg. It is estimated that by employing GSHP technology India can save annually a minimum electricity of 1639-18,700 GW and CO2 emission of 1.3-14.2 million tons. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.