Thread: So what's wrong with alternative power?

Originally Posted by bio-chem

only place ive heard of geothermal being used successfully and in any apreciable amounts is iceland.

Not geothermal power, using the ground as a heat-exchanger for an HVAC system, rather than using a compressor and condenser.

Originally Posted by IainDaniel

What about Geothermal for heating and cooling of homes? Is that possible for the southern states?

If you dig down deep enough you can hit cool earth, if you vent that up into your home you can use it as air conditioning. In the winter you can have many options like in Earthships they have a specially designed wall made out of used tires that get heated during the day and store that heat very efficiently. The way it works is that during the spring/summer month's the sun is high in the sky and when fall/winter approach the sun drops lower in the south so the homes have windows build just right to allow full sun exposure on the wall of black rubber storing heat. Earthships also are usually built into the side of a hill or cliff like a cave so that the dirt above it will help keep it insulated. If you've ever been in a cave or even a cellar you know they stay pretty cool in the summer.....

Originally Posted by IainDaniel

What about Geothermal for heating and cooling of homes? Is that possible for the southern states?

Several years ago i read about the launch of a program of using deep water from lake Ontario to cool buildings in Toronto. Your post reminded me to check up on that as i haven't heard anything since. Seems like it will go-live next year. We'll have to see how successful it will be.

Lake Ontario Waterkeeper

edit: hmmm.. apparently some buildings are already using it.

It's expected that by next year City Hall and Mount Sinai Hospital will join the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, the five towers of the Toronto-Dominion Centre, Metro Hall, Air Canada Centre, The Hudson's Bay Co. flagship store and the legislative buildings at Queen's Park, all of which now use lake water for cooling.

Originally Posted by BulkMeUp

Several years ago i read about the launch of a program of using deep water from lake Ontario to cool buildings in Toronto. Your post reminded me to check up on that as i haven't heard anything since. Seems like it will go-live next year. We'll have to see how successful it will be.

Lake Ontario Waterkeeper

edit: hmmm.. apparently some buildings are already using it.

They are doing that with deep ocean water here. They pump it out and use it as a chilled water A/C system, they also use it to farm cold water crabs and lobster, then along the run of the big black pipe they use the condensation to irrigate plants that normally need cooler climates since the water coming off is cold, they also have areas of the pipe that run underground to cool the soil for the same purpose.....

Originally Posted by maniclion

They are doing that with deep ocean water here. They pump it out and use it as a chilled water A/C system, they also use it to farm cold water crabs and lobster, then along the run of the big black pipe they use the condensation to irrigate plants that normally need cooler climates since the water coming off is cold, they also have areas of the pipe that run underground to cool the soil for the same purpose.....

wow .. nice.. a thought just struck me. I wonder if the cost of running a pump to move that much water offsets the cost savings form using the cold water

Originally Posted by BulkMeUp

wow .. nice.. a thought just struck me. I wonder if the cost of running a pump to move that much water offsets the cost savings form using the cold water

Making cold uses a lot more energy than just circulating cold water through a closed loop. Plus in a normal A/C unit so much of the energy is lost through heat.