Roads to Renewable Energy: Solving the Geothermal Heat Deficit with Solar Thermal Asphalt

As UMass makes the shift to become carbon neutral by 2032, one of the most important considerations is how to heat campus sustainably, given that 80% of total emissions are attributed to heating and cooling demands. One of the main ways this will happen is through the transition from the current Central Heating Plant to a more sustainable geothermal heating and cooling system (GHX). However, the proposed geothermal system will not produce enough heat to supply campus on its own. Our team is proposing implementing solar thermal asphalt in Mullins Way, adjacent to this system, to supplement the geothermal heat. This road will be able to provide supplementary heat to the underground reserves with minimum disruption on campus, and at a fraction of the cost of other proposed solutions.