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There is a vast quantity of free, clean, and renewable energy
in our ponds, oceans, and the waters that surround the Vineyard.
Through the use of geothermal heat pumps, we can collect and concentrate
this low grade stored solar energy into high grade energy to heat
and cool our buildings. This energy is available 24 hours a day
all year long.
Because the Sun is storing this energy for free, a geothermal
heat pump can typically collect 2 to 4 units of free energy for
every unit of energy put into the heat pump. The end result is
an efficiency ranging from 300 to 500%! In comparison, boilers
and furnaces are fast approaching their limit of efficiency (currently
some of them have 98% efficiency) of 100%.
Because geothermal systems are 3 to 5 times more efficient than
the best fossil fuel systems, their operating costs are about
half. In other words, the annual cost for electricity to run a
geothermal system is half the annual cost of propane or
fuel oil to run a furnace or boiler.
We proposed our ocean based geothermal system in November
2006, and our pond based
approach in September 2007. The following
sections will have additional details about the ocean and pond
approaches as well as an introduction to some ecological and permitting
issues.
Coast Guard Station Chicago
This presentation describes the application of a system already
in use around the world to reduce heating and cooling costs by up
to 50% for buildings on or near the shore. This system uses the
amazing power of the Sun and has no adverse environmental impact.
Ocean Front Geothermal is our application of the geothermal system
in a new and innovative way. We propose the use of a titanium plate
heat exchanger, suspended below a dock or pier, to extract the immense
stored solar energy in the ocean to provide the heating, cooling,
and hot water for any size building on or near the shore –
a single family home, a restaurant, a hotel, a hospital, or a downtown
center.
This system will reduce operating costs up to 50% compared to
a 95% efficient fossil fuel system. Perhaps the best illustration
of a pond or ocean based geothermal system in operation is the
Coast Guard Chicago Marine Safety Station.
Located at the mouth of the Chicago River on Lake Michigan, this
structure was built in 1935 and used until the late 80s when it
was boarded up. In 2005, the City of Chicago and the Coast Guard
decided to renovate it and make it into an extremely efficient
“green” building. The Army Corps of Engineers determined
that the most green and cost effective heating and cooling system
would be a 32 ton SlimJim
heat exchanger suspended under the pier in front of the Station.
This plate heat exchanger uses stored solar energy in Lake Michigan
to provide all of the heating and cooling for the 12,000 square
foot structure.
In February 2006, during a very cold winter, the Coast Guard
icebreaker Mackinaw was plowing through the two foot thick layer
of ice in front of the Coast Guard Station. Even though the Lake
water was barely above 37 F, the geothermal system worked flawlessly
and the officers on duty were warm and toasty. The Army Corps
of Engineers, the Coast Guard, and the City of Chicago agree there
is no adverse environmental impact on the Lake from this installation.
Now that the Coast Guard has proven that this technology is safe,
dependable, and really performs throughout the brutal Chicago
winter and summer weather, we feel comfortable introducing the
idea of Ocean Front Geothermal to Martha’s Vineyard and
Nantucket.
Any structure near the shore can have their total heating and
cooling loads easily met by a plate heat exchanger submerged in
the water and supply and return pipes connecting to the heat exchanger
to inside heat pumps.
Because this system is scalable, it is completely realistic to
serve an entire downtown with a municipal geothermal system –
providing stored solar energy from the ocean to area businesses
and residences – reducing fossil fuel use (and potential
carbon dioxide generation) by 50%, reducing the operating costs
for homes and businesses, and providing an additional “green”
revenue stream for the municipality.
We are surrounded by both water and a nearly unlimited source
of energy – the Sun stores 500 times more energy in the
Earth and oceans than mankind uses every year. This energy is
available to us day and night, summer and winter, anytime we need
it. We can use this stored solar energy to heat and cool buildings,
heat pools and spas, and make domestic hot water.
Because the geothermal process involves moving stored solar energy,
not making it, typical efficiencies are between 300 and 500%.
This is possible because the Sun gives us most of this energy
for free – we just have to move it into a building with
a heat pump.
This level of efficiency means that geothermal systems save at
up to 50% when compared to conventional fossil fuel systems (such
as a 98% efficient Viessmann boiler) – so payback periods
can be as short as 5 years.
We have been focused on using the Sun when it shines (or using
the wind when it blows) to make electricity. It is counterintuitive
to imagine that there is more that the Sun could give us besides
sunshine.
But the reality is that we are inundated with free energy from
the Sun all year long – it just gets stored invisibly in
the Earth, ponds, lakes, and oceans where it awaits our use.
In the past, there was no realistic way to access this stored
solar energy in the ocean so we didn’t even consider it
as a source.
This meant that we had no easy way to deal with at least half
of our problem (in terms of global warming, carbon dioxide generation,
and fuel use) - the heating and cooling of buildings.
But with the innovation of the SlimJim
stainless steel or titanium plate heat exchanger, we now have
an easy, affordable, environmentally sound, and money saving way
to extract that immense source of stored solar energy in the ocean
– and finally tackle the issue of heating and cooling buildings.
Coast Guard Icebreaker MACKINAW - WLBB 30
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