kimmy Posted November 17, 2005 Report Share Posted November 17, 2005 As for geothermal, there is a company around here that install them. Uh, doesn't geothermal power use heat from the earth's core, and require special geological formations that are usually only found in mountains or in volcanic areas? I can't imagine your neighbors are getting volcanos installed in their back yards... -k Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leafless Posted November 17, 2005 Report Share Posted November 17, 2005 The best answer I think is to convert the coal burning generating plants to natural gas. Nuclear power is a pain and problems are unpredictable and extremely expensive to repair and are potentially dangerous and are potential targets for terrorist and look how the heat exchangers actually cause pollution heating up our rivers. Whenever the gas runs out then perhaps think nuclear or maybe by that time some other more practical alternative will be available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lost in Manitoba Posted November 17, 2005 Report Share Posted November 17, 2005 You don't need volcanoes or hot springs for using geothermal. Field mice burrow into the ground in winter because it's warmer a few feet down than it is up top (reverse is true in summer). Geothermal heat exchange uses this principal. It has a resevoir of water below the ground (the farther down, the bigger the temperature difference, but also more costly) this water is continually circulated up through the house to warm it (or cool it) and then back to the resevoir to either release heat or cool it. If it's -20C and the temp of the water is 10C then obviously it will warm the house. If you want to get really environmental, you'd power the pump with solar or wind. Either way, it's cost effective. I guess you were thinking of geothermal electrical turbines, where steam comes up and spins turbines. Yeah, were not big on the volcanoe thing in Manitoba. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lost in Manitoba Posted November 17, 2005 Report Share Posted November 17, 2005 'When gas runs out'. That's the big problem, it will, and so will coal. And even if it won't happen in the near future, it will become rare enough that it will only be used for top priority things (I'm thinking of security and national defense here). On a daily basis I question the opinion and info given out about wind energy. I just don't believe that a good proportion of daily life can't be powered by wind turbines. Maybe it's just because I live on the prairies and the wind is always going strong, but people in the rockies or on the coast probably could say the same thing. On kind of the same note, what's up with the electric car. They won't mass produce them because they say they can't get it up to a 200mile range, and that's what people want. I drive 99.9% of the time in the city, and on a daily basis I probably don't put on more than 30-40 KM. Give me the damn car!!! Really, I shouldn't complain. After all, gas has dropped down to only 91.9/liter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
err Posted November 17, 2005 Report Share Posted November 17, 2005 You don't need volcanoes or hot springs for using geothermal. Field mice burrow into the ground in winter because it's warmer a few feet down than it is up top (reverse is true in summer). Geothermal heat exchange uses this principal. It has a resevoir of water below the ground (the farther down, the bigger the temperature difference, but also more costly) this water is continually circulated up through the house to warm it (or cool it) and then back to the resevoir to either release heat or cool it. ....... A geothermal system is a heat pump... that can heat or cool. Thinking of the cooling side might be simpler. The air conditioner compresses the refrigerant inside its tubes and the refrigerant becomes really hot. This is cooled off by blowing air through the coils that have the hot liquid in them.... Then this "cooled off" compressed liquid is "evaporated" and becomes cold... Air from your house is cooled down when it warms up these cold coils.... Anyways, if you ever felt the outside of a window air conditioner... those outside coils are hot (and the inside ones are cold)... Well, with a geothermal airconditioner, cool water from under the ground cools off these "hot" outside coils.... making the air conditioner much more efficient.... In the heating application, the thing is reversed... It's like you put the window air conditioner in backwards.... and the water from underground heats up the cold side.... did that make any sense...???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leafless Posted November 17, 2005 Report Share Posted November 17, 2005 err Geothermal has problems to. The pocket of water (larger the better) the coils sits in soon heats up due to the fact there is no circulation in that pocket of water and your heat pump becomes less efficient. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
err Posted November 17, 2005 Report Share Posted November 17, 2005 err Geothermal has problems to. The pocket of water (larger the better) the coils sits in soon heats up due to the fact there is no circulation in that pocket of water and your heat pump becomes less efficient. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Actually, they don't need to be in water at all. Fluid (antifreeze type) is circulated in the pipes, and the ground heats it up.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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