USA, Indiana:

Big Geothermal Getting Bigger at Ball State (EarthTechling)

The geothermal pump house at Ball State
(Courtesy The Hagerman Group

When we think of geothermal power, we think of geysers and bubbling, boiling waters that can be tapped for utility-scale production. But there’s a very different world of geothermal power, where onsite implementation can yield water-heating and air heating and cooling, and nowhere is it more clear than at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana.

There, the nation’s biggest ground-source, closed-loop geothermal heating and cooling system now is about to get bigger.

University trustees backed completion of the second phase of a geothermal project that when completed – in 2015, according to plans – will save $2 million a year while halving the university’s carbon footprint as it continues to reduce its reliance on old coal-fired boilers.

There will be five papers on the topic of Geothermal Heat-Pumps presented at the GRC Annual Meeting & GEA Energy Expo, Sept. 29-Oct. 2 at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas.

Read More.....