... drilling in ANWAR for oil or drilling in your backyard for GSHP?

Question

Which does more for America's energy independence: drilling in ANWAR or in your backyard for GSHP?

If we want to be energy independent, we must do more. Do you know what Ground Source Heat Pump is? The Army uses it on Fort Polk, a base near Leesville, La., to save millions of dollars in heating and cooling costs.

"...[saves]100% of the whole-community natural gas previously used for space conditioning and water heating (260,000 therms) in a typical meteorological year. These savings result in an estimated reduction in CO2 emissions of 22,400 tons per year. Peak electrical demand has been reduced by 7.55 MW, which is 43.5% of the pre-retrofit peak demand."

In street English, Fort Polk no longer uses natural gas and the electrical usage (and costs) went down. The Leesville, Louisiana has that extra electrical capacity available for new industry!

http://www.ornl.gov/sci/femp/pdfs/ORNL_CON-460.pdf

Answer 1

Yes I heard about these Geo thermal units about three years ago.They do offer a viable solution to pollution and energy cost.The only down side is the cost involved,and if I'm not mistaken they have to go really deep.

Answer 2

I would rather they drill in my back yard.Man i would be makin the money.

Answer 3

I saw this on DIRTY JOBS on the discovery channel a few months back----it's a great idea---and after spending the last 30 minutes scrolling through the link looks like FORT POLK has set a benchmark for all small communities to emulate.

However---President Bush is aware of the GSHP--His House in CRAWFORD TEXAS uses this TECHNOLOGY

http://www.snopes.com/politics/bush/hous...

And he still thinks we need the OIL--I agree with him--Oil will continue to be the lifeblood of the world for the next 20 to 40 years.--You can't just ignore it for the next TWO to four DECADES while the other countries of the world take advantage of it.

So Yes the GSHP is a Great idea--But so is Drilling in ANWAR!

Cost savings of 16% per housing unit at worst---up to 40% at best--either way the system seems to pay for itself in a relatively short amount of time--ESCO contract was for 20 years and predicted a savings of around 2 million per year at the base.

Answer 4

I like both.  I think Iceland uses GSHP, very efficient.  But,  I know this may sound crazy, if everyone uses GSHP, will there ever be people who say we are depleteing Mother Earth of Her natural heat.  Just wondering.