When I attended the Solar World Congress in Orlando’s tourism district 2 years ago, I learned a great deal about the technology of renewable energy, especially solar, as the event’s name suggests. One of the most intriguing solutions I saw there, applied in a few different ways, was the solar air conditioner. In fact, one of the presentations on the subject was by NASA, explaining how lunar missions in coming decades will use it.
Sadly, while the most intriguing exhibits and speeches I saw at the Solar World Congress focused on the future, the technologies we use today for generating electricity and then cooling and heating our homes is firmly rooted in the last century. I am very bullish about the promise of geothermal energy and believe that I can convince you to feel the same way.
So, how helpful could it be?
Compare energy prices in Ontario between fossil-fueled generation and geothermal and you have your proof of concept. Allow me to explain.
Catrin and I plan to add photovoltaic cells to the roof of our home next year. One of our proudest uses for the electricity which the cells produce will be to run our air conditioner. At the Solar World Congress, though, I learned that there are much more efficient designs which can cool the air. I mention this as a reminder that in our quest to solve global warming, we must strive to remain grounded, focused on the simple elegance which nature provides.
The manner in which most of North America generates electricity (and the same goes for many other parts of the world) is anything but simple. We drill or mine fuel from under the ground, process it, transport it to a power plant, burn it, vent the byproducts and then send the resulting electricity over transmission lines, losing as much as 20% to inefficiencies in the transmission process, only to lose more in the devices which use the electricity.
That’s not just inefficient, it’s triply so. There is a better way and the planet itself can teach it to us. It is called geothermal energy. The basics of it are this: the core of the planet maintains a constant temperature. It does not change with the seasons or the position of the sun. Thousands of miles beneath the surface, the temperature is far too hot, on the order of 10,000 degrees, to be useful but just a few hundred feet below the crust, where we live, the temperature is just as constant but also much closer to the narrow range in which we live comfortably.
Harnessing the consistency of geothermal energy which the Earth gives us for free is not new. What is fairly new, however, is the broad application of geothermal in homes, as is occurring in Ontario, Canada.
In the second part of this thread, I will explain why it holds so much potential for all of us, particularly in our quest for affordable, stable prices for energy which is produced cleanly.
Sustainable Justice For All!
Corbett Kroehler
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