Geothermal is so cool!

Actually, it’s really hot…as in geothermal heat. That’s a science pun, plenty more where that came from. What is geothermal, though? Simply, heat rising from the Earth’s core through the crust to the surface. Geothermal is prime example of a renewable energy source that will be around for the next 4-5 billion years. Eventually the core will cool down, but the good news is that the Sun will expand into its red giant phase well before that and burn the planet to a crisp, like a marshmallow that got too close to the fire. So you can take solace in the notion that geothermal heat will flow constantly in your lifetime, so long as you do not possess any eternal-life qualities like the Highlander or that Knights of the Templar guy at the end of Indian Jones and the Last Crusade, which is a very solid movie by the way. That part where the guy turns into a 100-year old in 10 seconds still freaks me out; his fault for choosing poorly in the Holy Grail sweepstakes, gotta think carefully about that sort of thing. But I digress…

What can geothermal do for you, though? If you are building a power plant, you can use this power source with a turbine to generate electricity. On a smaller scale, geothermal can provide heating, air conditioning and domestic hot water for residential, commercial and industrial buildings. To accomplish this, you drill into the ground and set up a heat pump and network of coils. The coils contain the fluid that conducts heat from the ground into air ducts or hydronic floors to heat a space. Think of a geothermal system like a HVAC system on steroids; geothermal performs all the necessary functions of traditional HVAC with high efficiency and dramatically cuts a building’s operating expenses. Geothermal systems can also act as a “heat-sink” for the summertime and provide air conditioning like a reverse refrigerator.

The technology has been around for 50+ years, and costs used to be so high that geothermal only made sense for power plant installations; today, geothermal is a cost-effective system for a wide array of businesses and residences. Unlike solar or wind, geothermal is a constant energy source that doesn’t have to worry about intermittency issues. More and more contractors are offering this solution (including Eco Solar Solutions, just ask!).

The cool (and hot!) thing about geothermal is its simplicity. This is not the Technodrome from the Ninja Turtles, even though something like that would be awesome. It’s just a heat pump with underground coils, fluid and a control room that resembles a traditional boiler room. Yet geothermal remains outside the renewable energy conversation because it isn’t well understood or publicized. Expect to hear more about it in the future as costs continue to fall and building owners look to implement high-efficiency HVAC systems.

The geothermal revolution may take a while to get here, but when it does it will be hot, hot, hot!