Facility managers and building owners often have queries about the efficacy and costs behind geothermal energy options. In its efforts to educate about geothermal, or ground-source, heat pumps (GHPs), the Geothermal Exchange Organization (GEO) finds that in many cases its audiences know little about geothermal energy, and often confuse GHPs with resources that create hot springs and high-pressure steam that can fuel electric power plants.
To address this, GEO has created a one-page, illustrated flyer called The Geothermal Spectrum, which describes each of the three ways that we can access the Earth's heat, including Geothermal Heat Pumps, Direct Use, and Geothermal Power.
"Geothermal heat is an incredible energy resource that can be found at temperatures ranging from 40˚ to 700˚F," says GEO President and CEO Doug Dougherty. "GHPs and their ground loops tap the upper portion of the Earth's surface in a temperature range from 40˚ to 70˚F to heat and cool buildings, compared to technologies that directly tap geologically hot water and steam for commercial uses and making electricity."
The Geothermal Spectrum can be found in its entirety here.