Cornell Earth Source Heat Project
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Cornell University is exploring geothermal heating as a sustainable method to warm its Ithaca campus. The project, titled Earth Source Heat, proposes to circulate initially cool water through subsurface reservoirs, where it will be naturally heated by the warmer temperature of the rocks. Earth Source Heat (ESH) includes a research collaboration between faculty, staff, and students across several science and engineering departments with the campus facilities staff. ESH is a major component of Cornell University’s proposed solutions to achieve carbon neutrality by 2035. There are two websites that describe the project -- a research page that focuses on detailed scientific and engineering studies: http://deepgeothermalheat.engineering.cornell.edu and a more general page: http://earthsourceheat.cornell.edu/, with a broader treatment of the motivation and stages of development of the heat production project. Selected technical reports are published on ecommons so that they will be preserved for posterity.
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Proof-of-concept for monitoring ground displacements in Tompkins County, NY using Persistent Scatterer Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar from the TerraSAR-X and Sentinel-1 satellites
(2022-04-27)Underground mining and the pumping of fluids, such as the proposed Cornell University Earth Source Heat Project (ESH), can result in observable displacement of the Earth’s surface that we can use to better understand the ... -
Analysis of Cornell University’s Seismic Networks for the Earth Source Heat Initiative
(2021-03-21)As part of efforts to achieve campus carbon neutrality by 2035, Cornell University launched the Earth Source Heat (ESH) project in 2007, to research the possibility of using deep geothermal heating to heat the campus. To ... -
Hydrologic challenges to heating Cornell using Earth Source Heat (ESH) and a strategy for meeting them
(2020-05-28)To reduce carbon emissions Cornell proposes to heat its campus by producing >60°C brine from 2 to 3 km depth. Twenty percent of its heating needs can be met by producing at 364 gpm. Demonstrating production and reinjection ... -
FINAL REPORT: Potential Field Surveys, Analyses, and Interpretation for Cornell’s Earth Source Heat Project
(2020-02)This work was contracted to look for geological structures that might be proximal to the proposed drilling sites for Cornell University’s Earth Source Heat (ESH) project. I used geophysical gravity and magnetic (collectively: ... -
Earthquakes in an Aseismic Region: Local Seismic Network Results for Central New York An AVF Investigation
(2020-01)Twelve seismographs were deployed on or near the campus of Cornell University in the fall of 2015 to record seismic activity in an area under consideration for development of geothermal wells. This area is notable for its ... -
Seismic Studies in Support of Earth Source Heating at Cornell University: Stratigraphy in the Vicinity of ESH Candidate Drill Sites from Multichannel Seismic Reflection Profiling in 2018
(2019-12)Multichannel seismic reflection surveys using vibroseis sources and nodal seismic recorders were carried out on and near Cornell University’s Ithaca campus in support of the ongoing Earth Source Heat Project (ESH). These ... -
Geological evaluation of subsurface features near Ithaca, NY: interpretations of seismic reflection profiles collected by the petroleum industry
(2019-12)To provide background geological information with which to assess some of the technical and environmental risks of a Cornell Earth Source Heat (ESH) project in Ithaca, NY, this report describes the geological features ...
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