What is Geothermal/GeoExchange Energy?

 Geothermal (A better term is GeoExchange energy) is solar thermal energy that is captured by the thermal mass of the earth. The earth stores the solar energy like a battery and GeoExchange heat is the liberation of this energy for our use. This type of geothermal energy is differentiated from hydro geothermal power, which is drilled deep into the earth or harnessed from natural hot springs. GeoExchange technology uses the earth's renewable energy, just below the surface, to heat or cool a home or other building, and to help provide domestic hot water. It's sometimes referred to as a geothermal heat pump, a ground source heat pump, or earth energy. No matter what you call it, GeoExchange systems are the best choice you can make for both your pocketbook and your planet. In fact, these systems are so good that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has said they are, "the most energy-efficient, environmentally clean, and cost-effective space conditioning systems available today".

Though there are many different type of systems they basically work on the same principle. A few feet beneath the surface, the earth's temperature remains fairly constant year-round, ranging from 45ºF or so in northern latitudes to about 70ºF in the deep south (50ºF to 55ºF in Ohio). GeoExchange takes advantage of this constant temperature to provide extremely efficient heating and cooling.

 

In winter, a fluid circulating through pipes buried in the ground absorbs heat from the earth and carries it into the home. The GeoExchange system inside the home uses a heat pump to concentrate the earth's thermal energy and then to transfer it to the interior space for warmth.

 

In the summer, the process is reversed: heat is extracted from the air in the house and transferred through the heat pump to the ground loop piping. The fluid in the ground loop then carries the heat back to the earth. The only external energy needed for GeoExchange is the small amount of electricity needed to operate the heat pump, ground loop pump and distribution fan or pump.

 

Even though carbon dioxide emissions may not bea source of concern, nonetheless geothermal does significantly cut carbon emissions.

 

According to data supplied by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Geothermal Technologies, nearly 40% of all U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) are the result of using energy to heat, cool and provide hot water for buildings. This is about the same amount of CO2 contributed by the transportation sector.

 

A typical 3-ton residential GeoExchange system produces an average of about one pound less Carbon Dioxide (CO2) per hour of use than a conventional system. To put that in perspective, over an average 20-year lifespan, 100,000 units of nominally sized residential GeoExchange systems will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by almost 1.1 million metric tons of carbon equivalents.

 

That would be the equivalent of converting about 58,700 cars to zero-emission vehicles, or planting more than 120,000 acres of trees.

 

And the waste heat removed from the home's interior during the cooling season can be used to provide virtually free hot water-resulting in a total savings in hot water costs of about 30% annually, and lowering emissions even further.

 

So make yourself feel better driving that non-environmental friendly SUV around and get a GeoExchange system for your house.

 

Geothermal heat pumps strengthen U.S. energy security. Every 100,000 homes with geothermal heat pump systems reduce foreign oil consumption by 2.15 million barrels annually and reduce electricity consumption by 799 million kilowatt hours annually.

· Geothermal heat pumps are efficient. The use of GeoExchange lowers electricity demand by approximately 1 kW per ton of capacity.

 

· Geothermal heat pumps are environmental. They generate no on site emissions and have the lowest emissions among all heating and cooling technologies.

 

· Geothermal heat pumps save money. Schools now using geothermal heat pump systems save more than $25 million in energy costs – meaning more money for books, equipment and teachers. Homeowners can save 25 to 50 percent on home electric bills compared to conventional heating and cooling systems. Electric bills for a 2,000 sq. ft. home can be reduced to as low as $1 a day, using a GeoExchange system.

· GeoExchange systems represent a savings to homeowners of 30 to 70% in the heating mode and 20 to 50% in the cooling mode, compared to conventional systems.

· EPA found that GeoExchange heating and cooling systems can reduce energy consumption—and corresponding emissions—by more than 40% compared to air source heat pumps and by over 70% compared to electric resistance heating with standard air-conditioning equipment.

 

· GeoExchange systems use the Earth’s energy storage capability to heat and cool buildings, and to provide hot water. The earth is a huge energy storage device that absorbs 47% of the sun’s energy – more than 500 times more energy than mankind needs every year – in the form of clean, renewable energy. GeoExchange systems take this heat during the heating season at an efficiency approaching or exceeding 400%, and return it during the cooling season.

 

There are more than one million installations in the United States today. Although this is a very small percentage of the total HVAC market, the number of people who are choosing to install GeoExchange is growing rapidly as more learn about the technology.

 

To install a GeoExchange system is typically very expensive for the homeowner and that is why it is not as prevalent in the marketplace even though it is the least costly system to operate in the long run. A geothermal/GeoExchange utility assumes the major cost of the installation so you may immediately see the savings in the form of low monthly rate as compared to electric or natural gas heat.

Not that a GeoExchange system needs it but there are several tax advantages and grant associated with this geothermal/solar thermal energy to help make it look even more appealing to the average homeowner or business man.

Rehabilitation of Parks through a Geothermal Utility

 

Right now our parks are a cost center. They have the potential to become a profit center and much more of an asset to the community.  This plan can be scaled up or down based upon community acceptance of it and was originally intended just for the rehabilitation of Central Park. We believe there will be enthusiastic support from the community and a larger scale utility offers greater potential savings for homeowners. The plan can be implemented in stages over time but the largest savings would be to do it all at once.

Whatever way the people of the community decide to implement such a system is fine with us.

 

How and why?

 

By installing a geothermal utility under our parks the parks may be financed by the utility that provides low cost heat and air conditioning to local residents. This effectively insulates the parks from any downturn in the economy, as residents will always need heat and air conditioning. This also helps to insulate the consumer from rising energy prices and helps to lower natural gas prices by the added competition of another utility.

 

Residents would pay a one-time connection fee and a monthly rate. A small portion of the one time connection fee and monthly rate will be used to finance major rehabilitation of the parks and help to supplement their operating costs.

 

One drawback to a geothermal system like the one being proposed is that it has to be large to be cost effective for everyone or only a few residents will benefit and we want this to benefit as many resident as feasibly possible.

Many kinds of geothermal systems have examined.

Though loop systems are the most common we are suggesting a hybrid system because of the scale of the project. The ultimate type of system selected would be determined by the feasibility study we wish the city commissioners to support. Sandusky’s unique location and geologic landscape offers many possibilities and the suggest plan may be altered significantly to capture a maximum amount of savings.

The parks are only so large and only have so much capacity.

Traditional vertical and horizontal loop systems would only generate enough energy to heat and cool the buildings in the immediate area and though they would be cost effective they would not generate enough revenue to operate the parks and that is our main goal.

 

Horizontal loop illustration 

Vertical loop illustration

Of these traditional closed loop systems Horizontal loops are the cheapest to install because of the ease of installation and no need of drilling equipment

Pond or Lake open Closed Loop Systems

Open loop and non loop systems can use aquifers (underground streams) or lakes that are significantly deep enough that the utility can tap into. (Normally at a depth greater than seventeen feet)on Loop Lake or pond system.

 

Pond or Lake Open Loop Systems

 

Open Loop Aquifer System

What we are proposing is providing enough capacity to heat and cool a large amount of homes at the cheapest possible price. Since water affords the greatest efficiency of heating and cooling and we have Lake Erie at our doorsteps we propose utilizing the lake in an open hybrid loop system. An alternate scenario could use the energy trapped within the municipal water supply without using the water through a system of heat exchangers in a closed looped system.

 

By installing a pumping station that draws water from a deep portion of the lake we will pump this relatively warm water through a deep pipe line extending from Shoreline Park east down Water Street to Warren Street and then South to Huron Park. Huron Park will be where the first array of geothermal tanks will be buried; this will be called (Array One). The supply pipeline will continue down Monroe Street heading west to Columbus Park. This will supply the second array (Array Two) buried beneath Columbus Park. The line will continue west down Monroe Street to the third array of storage tanks (Array Three) at Central Park. Central Park will have the largest array of tanks. The pipeline would continue all the way west to Lions Park to feed the fourth array of buried tanks (Array Four).

All of these tanks and additional pipelines would be unnecessary in a closed loop system that utilizes the municipal water supply for energy. Instead heat exchangers would be placed in an underground building and would distribute the energy laden water via a closed loop system. This type of system would be cheaper and much less of a hassle to operate.

 

At each one of these arrays will be separate pumping stations that will pump the filtered non-potable water down pipelines buried beneath the roads. In the closed loop system t would pump antifreeze. Houses may then connect to these pipelines. This water or antifreeze will be pumped into your GeoExchange unit commonly referred to as a water furnace or geothermal heat pump. This will heat and cool your house. After the water has been used it would be ejected into the local storm sewer for return to the lake. This water could also be diverted into an in house storage tank and with the aid of a pump could be used to water your lawn or clean your car helping to conserve potable treated water and lowering your water bill.

The closed loop systems antifreeze would utilize a a return loop to make its way back to the Heat Exchanger beneath the park to have energy put back into it from the municipal water supply.

 

The pumping stations at each park; in the open loop system, could provide non-potable water for the irrigation of the parks so as to provide a well managed manicured turf enviable of any golf course and to make sure those plants do not wither on a hot summers day. Since this water is continuously flowing it can be used for decorative water fountains as well.

 

During the construction of the storage arrays will be a prime time to bury the unsightly electrical utilities as well. Many trees will be identified as keepers or losers. The keepers will be transplanted and the losers will be cut down with new trees being planted during the construction of the new park.

 

Under all aspects of the new parks design the citizens’ input will be required.

 

Though this utility will pay for a major portion of the rehabilitation of the parks we still seek to cut even more cost by the formation of public and private partnerships

 

The Customers

 

The exact routes that will be covered by the utility will be based upon those willing to make the switch from natural gas to geothermal and the following is only based upon potential customers.

 

Huron Park Service Loops

 

Huron Park will service a main loop heading North down Warren Street to Water Street and there it will “T”. It will run east to Meigs St, then south on Meigs to First Street, It will run East on First Street to Cedar Point Blvd and turn South on the Blvd, It will then run east on Rte 6 and terminate at the Castaway bay property.

From the “T” it will run west down the length of Water Street

Columbus Park Service loops

 

Columbus Park will service a main loop heading South down Columbus Ave until it reaches Perkins Ave and then will head east on Perkins until it reaches Route 250 and terminates.

 Another main originating at Columbus park will head North on Columbus Ave. until it reaches Market Street and would “T” and services all of Market Street.

Central Park Service Loops

 

Central Park will service a main loop heading East to the end of Monroe Street and terminating. Another loop will run South down Decatur to Hayes Ave. and run south down Hayes to Perkin Ave and will head East to Columbus Avenue where it will Terminate. Another loop will run south down Lawrence St. to Jefferson and will run East down Jefferson to Warren Street and terminates. The last loop will run west down Monroe Street and terminate at Rte 6 (Tiffin Ave.)

Lions Park Service Loops

 

Lions Park will service a main loop heading east down Monroe Street to Rte 6 and will follow Rte 6 East to Columbus Ave. where it will terminate. Another loop will head west down Monroe Street and then South on to Edgewater and then west on Rte 6 (Venice Rd.) to Fremont Street where it terminates. The last loop heads West on Monroe and then South on Edgewater and then east on Rte 6 (Venice Rd) to Superior St and then South on Superior to Rte 101, then North on Rte 101 to St. Clair, South on St, Clair to Perkins Ave and East on Perkin to Hayes Ave where it terminates.

Goals of A Geothermal Utility

 Implementing a utility such as this comes down to two things: lining up customers before hand to justify its feasibility and finding a way to finance such a project.

 Since this is a green utility we do not foresee a problem in getting it financed, as there are multiple sources to draw upon to finance the project from private, local, state, and federal funds.

 The real goal is to meet the goals we set for ourselves.

 We are going to use an average size 2000 sqft house built in the 1970’s using Natural Gas forced air heat as our gold standard to use as a measure of our success. (48,000 Btu/hr heating load & 20,000 Btu/hr cooling load)

Energy costs: Electricity@ $.093/kWh; Propane @ $1.96/gallon; Natural Gas @ $.76/therm

We at the very least would expect the following results:

70 degree heating and cooling

Electrical Resistance            Heat                                    $2640/year

(100% radiant/convector zoned system with 13 SEER A/C)

Propane                                                            $2474/year

(91% condensing system with 13 SEER A/C)

Natural Gas                                                   $1024/year

(91% ignitor condensing system with 13 SEER A/C)

GeoExchange                        $724/year

(350% efficient system with geothermal utility)

With the number of older houses present in the city this would be a very conservative estimate. That’s an average of $300 savings to a resident per year for the average three-ton system versus natural gas.

Our goal is to save the average resident a minimum of $300 per year or an equivalent of $100 per ton on their heating and cooling unit and to have an average heating and cooling bill about $60.00 per month.

Naturally, a larger house that is less energy efficient will net you more of a savings.

The Geothermal utility cost can be tax exempted from your income as described earlier which can equate to you as getting free heat if you are in the mid to low income tax brackets.  This is the way we can get our own economic stimulus. To a qualifying homeowner that’s saving $1024 per year.

H.R. 2419: Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 as well as the Food and Energy Security Act of 2007 (Engrossed Amendment as Agreed to by Senate) has made available funds for low interest loans to create Geothermal Utilities to qualifying non-profit cooperatives. The USDA Rural Utility Service Program now makes 35-year loans available through these Acts. Another source of financing could be incremental tax revenue financing as well as bond issues to start this utility. Community Development Block Grants and HUD Grants are available as well as the district this most helps is low-income districts and the improvement of common space.

To sell the system we must get large utility users to sign on to this concept to make this affordable for all residents. So businesses, Schools, Government Buildings, and Hospital must sign on first to justify a system with the lowest potential cost.

Typical loop systems cost $6,000 to install for an average  3 Ton system since we will be using a larger and much cheaper system in comparison these costs will go down. We will use these for a conservative estimate though.

At $6,000 per average household and at a rate of $20/ per ton capacity of which $3 goes to the parks. This will take about ten years to pay off the principal cost of the system. Another seven years to pay off the interest on the system. We’ll allow 5 years worth of payments for maintenance and upkeep on the system. These systems normally last for 50 years before a major overhaul is needed so lets just use 35 years to be conservative. 22 years of operation pays for the system and 13 years of payment is profit to the cooperative that can then use that money to continuously improve the parks and add geothermal customers to the utility. The $3 per ton going to the parks from the inception of the utility and the 13 year profits over the life of the utility would mean an average of over $350 per household per year going to the upkeep of the parks.

 

We believe the equivalent of 2000 households or 6000 tons of capacity will be needed to get the system up and running but this number could radically change with a feasibility study.  That averages to 1500 tons per park. We believe we have been very overly conservative with these numbers as the system selected would have the potential to be far less costly than tradition geothermal systems. 2000 households over a 22 year break even period would generate close to $27million to pay for the geothermal loop system and over its 35 year lifetime would generate $26 million for the administration rehabilitation and upkeep of the parks. That’s about $750,000 per year for the five neglected parks or $250,000 per year for each park. Any grant money received is just icing on the cake and possibly it would be wise to incorporate more parks into the model. With fundraisers such as concerts and shows even more money could be raised to bring the entire recreation system under the auspices of a “Geothermal/Park Utility Cooperative”.

 

Additionally, $21 million in savings to the residents will be realized over the 35 year period that will be added back into the economy and this doesn’t even take into account how much of a savings those 2000 households realized on their electric and water bills which would be substantial.

Revenue would be realized in order to incentive-tize signing up to the utility. $100 per ton fee would be charge as a connection fee when the system is initially installed but this connection fee will go up to $200 per ton afterwards. Large tonnage commercial installation connection fees may be waived in order to facilitate the construction of the utility facilities. The utility can continually expand utilizing more parks and traditional and non traditional geothermal.

By adding cheap “pay-for” services such as pools and other recreational

Infrastructure as well as Public/Private Partnerships we can pay for the entire cost of our parks.

The numbers are all just estimates and until we have an engineering firm do a feasibility study they are just speculative. More and better assumptions need to be made so we would ask that the city commissioners do due diligence in having a reputable engineering firm perform a study.

Another aspect of the plan could be the use of helping companies to harness heat generated from industry process such a foundries and forging companies. Capturing this wasted heat may currently not be beneficial to them but if it were integrated into the geothermal loop in the wintertime the savings the utility receives could pass this on in the form of a check to the participating company.

Additionally, solar thermal collectors (not solar photovoltaic panels) can be used to generate hot water decreasing any need for Natural Gas. These collectors can be mounted atop large industrial buildings and incorporated in the grid as well. This allows companies and large municipal buildings (such as schools) to rent out their rooftops from the geothermal utility providing additional revenue streams from an unused source.