Economic and environmental assessment of ground source heat pump system: The case of Turkey

Abstract

The use of renewable energy sources increases day by day. Although ground source heat pump systems are used to meet buildings' heating and cooling demands worldwide, high initial setup costs limit the widespread use of these systems. It is far from attractive to end-users in economically unfavorable systems throughout its life cycle. On the other hand, the use of these systems in Turkey is quite limited. This study discusses the economic and environmental aspects of natural gas, air-source heat pump, and ground source heat pump systems in the conditioning of an office in the temperate climate zone in Turkey for a 20-year design life. Within the scope of the study, the incentives to be applied to make the ground source heat pump system attractive were discussed and examined. The cooling capability of GSHPs has the potential to promote widespread use. Considering the annual cycle (heating–cooling), it has been calculated that this period can be reduced to less than 20 years if Germany's incentive is implemented in Turkey. Using the GSHP system reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 28.9, and 36.7 % in comparison with the natural gas system, and air source heat pump systems, respectively.