“You know Wendy, folks often forget or just don’t realize that extraction and consumption of limited sources of energy is not the only route to prosperity. Fossil fuels are oh-so twentieth century! And their greenhouse gas emissions are doing a number on our environment. Enough with the forest fires and hurricanes already!”
“That’s right Saul, and it’s why I can’t wait to introduce our guest. This week we’re digging deep into a little-known technology that accesses free, endless energy. Sounds enticing, doesn’t it? Well, Ken Drillwell is here to tell us all about ground source heat pumps. Ken, welcome to the show!”
“Thanks Wendy; it’s great to be here. Maybe I can start by telling the folks just what we’re talking about. Ground source heat pumps(GSHP) harness low-temperature geothermal energy to heat and cool homes. They’re similar to the more widely deployed air source heat pumps. Both can heat or cool a building. The big difference is that air source pumps have to work with whatever temperature the air happens to be, ranging from fridge to sweltering. However, ground source heat pumps draw energy from underground wells drilled several hundred feet down, or fields of pipes buried just beneath the surface of the earth. That’s where temperatures are about 54 degrees Fahrenheit year-round making GSHPs very efficient.
“The U.S. Dept. of Energy recently reported that GSHPs are posed to heat & cool the equivalent of 7 million homes by 2035—up from just over 1 million today. That’s equivalent to keeping dozens of coal or gas-fired power plants offline during peak energy use periods. The technology is so cost effective that several universities, non-profits and even gas technology companies are working to develop neighborhood-scale geothermal heating and cooling systems,” Ken concluded.
“Ground sourced heat pumps,” Wendy exclaimed, “another great example of why we need to ‘flip the script’ concerning energy sources. We’re surrounded by free, clean, inexhaustible energy that only needs to be harnessed. So climb on board! We’re off to the races to protect our only home where we’re all forever… Earthbound.”