Environmental Benefits

The health of the planet is on everyone’s mind these days. And for good reason. We’ve been burning fossil fuels for decades, and now that practice has come back to haunt us, beginning with the decidedly negative impact of global warming.

Geothermal energy is remarkably clean. It’s a renewable resource that does not consume any fuel or produce significant emissions. It has nothing to burn. It takes natural heat stored in the Earth and cycles it through modern heat pump technology to produce a never-ending source of energy with little impact on the environment.

Keep this in mind. Nearly 40 per cent of all U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide are the result of using energy to heat/cool and provide hot water for buildings. This is about the same percentage that the transportation sector contributes. Just think of how better off the planet would be if we could eliminate some of those emissions.

Currently installed systems are already making a huge difference in our environment. Today, there are now more than 750,000 geoexchange installations in the U.S. The current use of geothermal heat pump technology has resulted in the elimination of more than 4.4 million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually, and more than 1.2 million metric tons of carbon equivalent annually.
That is equivalent to taking 971,000 cars off the road, or reducing U.S. reliance on imported fuels by 16.1 million barrels of crude oil per year.

Geoexchange systems are environmentally friendly. The fluid in the ground-loop heat exchangers is typically an environmentally safe, water-based antifreeze solution. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found that geoexchange heating and cooling systems can reduce energy consumption (and corresponding emissions) by more than 40 per cent compared to air source heat pumps, and by more than 70 per cent compared to electric resistance heating with standard air-conditioning equipment.