The key to more efficient heating and cooling may lie underground. Storing heat and cold for months in deep aquifers could bolster the electrical grid’s reliability and increase its resilience to extreme weather. A system that circulates underground water to heat and cool buildings could save 40% of the electricity and natural gas used for this purpose in the U.S. The method, known as aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES), could help decarbonize the energy system. During the summer, water is pumped up from underground aquifers, heated by the sun or with electricity from solar panels or from wind energy, then pumped back underground. In winter, the warm water is pumped back to the surface and used to help heat buildings, then the cooled water is stored back underground to help cool buildings in the summer.
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