Heating and Cooling from the Earth Engine

When people think of renewable energy, their first thought is typically solar power or wind energy. In Pennsylvania, the most natural and renewable energy system available to meet the heating and cooling needs for residential, commercial and recreational needs is a geothermal or a ground-source heating and cooling system. These systems come with a variety of configurations and a single system can heat or cool a home without natural gas, coal, oil or biomass. However, some electric is required to run the system.

Geothermal Concept House

This relatively obscure technology is robust, proven and available now to those willing to understand the simple beauty of these systems.

A geothermal system moves and stores energy rather than producing energy through combustion or resistance. Geothermal systems work by exchanging hot or cold air from the home with the stable stored energy in the ground, rather than by converting chemical energy to heat. This is a renewable energy system that is very efficient and has enough flexibility to fit a variety of applications. Some added benefit in addition efficiency is that geothermal energy creates no pollution to our air or water and other than electricity, they eliminate the need to purchase highly processed petrochemical fuel from less than environmentally conscious producers.

While the air temperature in Pennsylvania can vary from -20 degrees Fahrenheit in the coldest part of winter to over 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer, the Earth’s temperature a few feet under the surface is essentially the same in winter and summer. In the winter, the system can heat a home using the Earth’s relatively warm core energy. In the summer, the same system can cool the home with the Earth’s relatively cool mass. Year-round, geothermal systems can produce hot water. Geothermal heat pumps have an efficiency of over 300 to 500 percent (meaning they get a payback of 3 to 5 times the energy used to run the system). This efficiency provides the heating/cooling needs at a cost that is 30 to 70 percent less expensive than conventional energy systems, without combustion, carbon dioxide, methane, water pollution or the waste generated by other energy systems.

Geothermal ground-source heating and cooling systems work during the night when the sun is blocked by clouds and when the wind is not blowing. While electricity costs may vary, geothermal costs don’t fluctuate like natural firewood, gas, coal and heating oil. The ground-source system comes in a variety of configurations to easily fit new home construction or homes with a more conventional, existing duct-based heating and cooling systems.

The Way System Works

The geothermal system has three main components: connection to the Earth, delivery and distribution system and a geothermal heat pump. The Earth connection allows the system to pull or store heat in the Earth. In heating mode, the system uses the Earth connection to pull a small quantity of heat from the Earth to heat a person’s space. In cooling mode, the system does the reverse and transfers heat from the air back to the Earth.

The distribution system can be a series of vertical connections or loops buried in the ground that transfer and help to distribute the energy. The geothermal heat pump is very efficient energy transfer system that moves the energy from the building to the transfer fluid.

The system does require an electrical source to run the heat pumps and circulation system and it is critical that an existing home have a formal energy audit done prior to installing a system. New construction should use green building and energy efficient insulating systems so the system can be properly sized. The Residential Energy-Efficient Property Credit provides a 30 percent tax credit toward the cost of alternative energy equipment installed on or in a home or business. With these credits, payback on installation is about 10 years+.

 

Pennsylvania residents could benefit from lower energy costs, elimination of water and air pollution and a significant reduction of the expensive and environmentally destructive infrastructure of fossil fuels by adapting geothermal systems as soon as possible.

 

To learn more about geothermal energy, visit the Keystone Clean Water Team at CarbonWaters.org or Duane Moyer Well Drilling at MoyerWellDrilling.com.

Article published in the April Addition of  Natural Awakenings Magazine

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Kalasin Everything we do began with an idea.

We have offered “Free” Assistance to this effort, but if you are a private well owner that needs assistance we are happy to help.

We realize your time is precious and the world is hectic. CCGG’s volunteers do only what they’re comfortable with. It can be a little or a lot.  Get YOUR WATER Tested – Discounted Screening Tests !

For more information, please go to CCGG’s About Page or contact us.  Follow us on Twitter 

Keystone Clean Water Team is a 501(c)(3) IRS approved nonprofit, volunteer organization and your donation is tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.    Unsolicited donations are appreciated (Helps us complete our mission), but we also do local educational workshops and local cellphone/small electronic recycling programs. If you would like to set up a program to help recycle cellphones at an event, business, or other organization.   buy Pregabalin india Through our program we can recycle  cell phones, iPods, game systems, and small digital cameras.  If your interested, please contact us.  Our new PSAs.

Help the Organization and Get Your Water Tested or Order the Private Well Owner Guide (proceeds benefit This Organization). Water Science Basics!

Algae: The new antibiotic? Thought Just Made Ponds Green

To the average observer, algae may look like a slimy mess. But in the green-tech world, they’re versatile workhorses that can be converted to biofuels, air purifiers and electricity.

Now a Michigan startup is harnessing it as a feed additive to address the pervasive problem of unnecessary antibiotics use on healthy animals in factory farms—a problem that’s led to the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (also known as superbugs) that are a threat to global public health.

Algal Scientific is extracting beta glucan—a chain of simple sugars—from algae for use as an immune system support and alternative to antibiotics. CEO Geoff Horst says that the substance works by supporting the immune system via stimulating the growth of white blood cells.

“Most [beta glucan] on the market now is extracted from yeast cell walls, and it’s very expensive as they end up paying for refined beta glucan,” he said.

Dubbed Algamune, Horst says that his product is more potent—as well as cheaper—than the versions derived from yeast, since it’s more bioavailable.

Algamune—which is now being produced on a commercial scale in the U.S. and used by shrimp growers in Ecuador and Vietnam, as well as by chicken producers that Horst declined to name—got approved for use in the U.S. last year, and a few months ago in the EU after clearing regulatory requirements. The decisions capped a three-year process of R&D and testing the product in chickens, pigs, fish and shrimp at Texas A&M University and commercial settings.

Just last week, the company announced it had received $7 million in a second round of venture capital funding, which Horst says will now allow Algal Scientific to start working on a beta glucan feed additive for cows, aquaculture and pet food.

The support is a timely shot in the arm at a time when the world is standing on what journalist Maryn McKenna recently described as “the threshold of the post-antibiotic era” during her TED talk in Vancouver a few weeks ago.

Currently, antibiotic resistance is responsible for the deaths of 700,000 people a year worldwide, and by 2050 could claim more lives than cancer at 10 million deaths annually, according to the British-funded Review on Antimicrobial Resistance.

At TED, McKenna told the story of her great uncle Joe McKenna, a New York City firefighter who died from a simple infection after getting hit by a fire hose—a few years before penicillin was discovered by Sir Alexander Fleming in 1928.

“Most people died back then the way my uncle died because they didn’t live long enough to develop heart disease,” she said. “They died most of the time from infection. All of that changed when antibiotics arrived.”

Every time we use an antibiotic, we give bacteria billions of chances to crack the codes of the defenses we’ve constructed, she said.

Eighty percent of antibiotics used in the U.S.—or nearly 30 million pounds—are mostly dispensed at factory farms as a way to prop up animals’ immune system. This contributes to the spread in antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which gets into the groundwater via the farms’ runoff. Overuse in humans is also part of the problem: According to the Centers for Disease Control, up to half of antibiotic prescriptions are unnecessary.

If the superbugs win, and nothing is done to address the problem now, we would return to that era when skin infections would cause fear, McKenna said.

“If we lost antibiotics, we’d lose cancer patients, AIDS, premature babies and transplant recipients as well as stents for stroke, pumps for diabetes and new hips and knees,” she said. “This is asymmetric warfare, but we can change the outcome.”

Read the Full Original Article

Comment – About 10 years ago – I said “One day we may be making some of our waters green – to increase productivity and harvest the benefits of algae”.

Learn More About Natural Gas Energy Environment Development, Fracking, Fracking Terms, and Sustainability

Everything we do began with an idea.

We have offered “Free” Assistance to this effort, but if you are a private well owner that needs assistance we are happy to help.

We realize your time is precious and the world is hectic. CCGG’s volunteers do only what they’re comfortable with. It can be a little or a lot.  Get YOUR WATER Tested – Discounted Screening Tests !

For more information, please go to CCGG’s About Page or contact us.  Follow us on Twitter 

Keystone Clean Water Team is a 501(c)(3) IRS approved nonprofit, volunteer organization and your donation is tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.    Unsolicited donations are appreciated (Helps us complete our mission), but we also do local educational workshops and local cellphone/small electronic recycling programs. If you would like to set up a program to help recycle cellphones at an event, business, or other organization.  Through our program we can recycle  cell phones, iPods, game systems, and small digital cameras.  If your interested, please contact us.  Our new PSAs.

Help the Organization and Get Your Water Tested or Order the Private Well Owner Guide (proceeds benefit This Organization). Water Science Basics!

Pipeline Panel Discussion Northeastern Pennsylvania

Wilkes University is hosting a panel discussion entitled “Gas Pipelines in Northeastern PA: Challenges and Solutions” on Thursday, 19 March between 7:30 P.M. – 9:30 P.M.  The session will be held in Stark Learning Center, Room 101.  The event is free.

The purpose of the session will be to offer the public a balanced perspective on natural gas pipeline development.  Regulatory, planning, and landowner issues to protect PAs citizens and its environment while allowing for infrastructure development will be explored.

Panelists will include Mike Mara (UGI Energy Services), Dave Horn (LIUNA), Davitt Woodwell (Pennsylvania Environmental Council), Paul Metro (Pennsylvania Utility Commission), Josh Longmore (Luzerne County Conservation District), State Senator John T. Yudichak, Kenneth Klemow (Wilkes University), and Brian Oram (BF Environmental Consultants Inc).

The anticipated format will involve panelists responding to a series of prepared questions, followed up by moderated questions from the audience.

Ken

 Directions to Campus

Campus Map (You want Stark Learning Center)

*****
Links

Online Training Courses Related to Natural Gas Development
Sustainability Training
Stream Restoration Courses

Gas pipelines in Northeastern PA: Challenges and Solutions

Gas pipelines in Northeastern PA: Challenges and Solutions

 

Careers In Energy Northeast Pennsylvania Valley View High School

Valley View High School Careers in Energy Day

Keystone Clean Water Team participated in this event.  There appeared to be over 100 students that learned about energy related careers.  Our presentation was related to all forms of energy with a focus on renewable energy, conservation, waste reduction, and the need for a National Energy Policy and Plan.  We also discussed career planning and how best to take the first step to make a positive change.  A pdf of the presentation , Careers in Energy Northeast Pennsylvania, can be found here.  In addition, the students turned in a number of old cell phones.  Great Students and Future Leaders !

 

Regional Training Courses or Programs

Featured:
Sustainability Training and Energy Production Distribution
Training in Energy Audits

Everything we do began with an idea.

We have offered “Free” Assistance to this effort, but if you are a private well owner that needs assistance we are happy to help.

We realize your time is precious and the world is hectic. CCGG’s volunteers do only what they’re comfortable with. It can be a little or a lot.  Get YOUR WATER Tested – Discounted Screening Tests !

For more information, please go to CCGG’s About Page or contact us.  Follow us on Twitter 

Keystone Clean Water Team is a 501(c)(3) IRS approved nonprofit, volunteer organization and your donation is tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.    Unsolicited donations are appreciated (Helps us complete our mission), but we also do local educational workshops and local cellphone/small electronic recycling programs. If you would like to set up a program to help recycle cellphones at an event, business, or other organization.  Through our program we can recycle  cell phones, iPods, game systems, and small digital cameras.  If your interested, please contact us.

Help the Organization and Get Your Water Tested or Order the Private Well Owner Guide (proceeds benefit This Organization). Water Science Basics!

Evaluating Erosion, Sediment, and Sedimentation on Roadway Projects November 12

Evaluating Erosion, Sediment, and Sedimentation on Roadway Projects
Presenters: Jerald Fifield, Ph.D., CISEC, CPESC
& Tina Wills, P.E., CISEC, CPESC
Wednesday, November 12th

Get the skinny on USLE, RUSLE, & RUSLE2!

Don’t miss joining Jerry Fifield and Tina Wills to explore the differences between erosion, sediment, and sedimentation on your roadway project sites, they key elements and behaviors of these variables, and how you can calculate and determine the erosion and sediment yield on your roadway project sites.

Or register for the full series & save 20%!

In this webinar we’ll discuss the variables that allow for the quantification of erosion and sediment yield on a roadway project site. Additionally, Fifield and Wills will provide comparisons to demonstrate the difference between erosion rates determined by the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) and the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE and RUSLE2), as well as present mechanics of sediment yield using the Modified Universal Soil Loss Equation (MUSLE). Lastly, Fifield and Wills complete a sediment yield to runoff volume comparison providing participants with an understanding how the volume of sediment in runoff waters vary and impact commonly found BMPs on roadway project construction sites.

Learning Objectives

Understanding of the differences between erosion, sediment, and sedimentation

Identification of the limitations of erosion rate and sediment yield models

Introductory understanding of the concept of a “sedigraph”

Understanding of sediment vs. runoff volumes

Speaker:
Jerald Fifield, Ph.D., CISEC, CPESC
& Tina Wills, P.E., CISEC, CPESC

Hydrodynamics Inc.

Dr. Jerald Fifield and Tina Wills have over 45 years of professional experience in drainage, sediment and erosion control, water rights, and nonpoint pollution control. Through HydroDynamics Inc., they develop SWPPPs and sediment and erosion control plans, complete drainage analysis, provide inspection services, teach about controlling sediment and erosion on construction sites, and provide expert testimony. Fifield and Wills have taught hundreds of courses in the sediment and erosion control fields, training thousands of professionals in the process, and are featured speakers at the upcoming StormCon 2014. Additionally, Dr. Fifield is the author of the best-selling manual Designing and Reviewing Effective Sediment and Erosion Control Plans (3rd ed.).

More Training in Stormwater Management and Highway Design

Make a difference starting now!

Recycling cell phones helps the environment by saving energy and keeping useable and valuable materials out of landfills and incinerators. It also helps preserve important animal habitats by reducing the demand for Coltan. In addition to recycling cell phones and electronic waste it is critical that consumers demand conflict free electronic devices.   You can help the Keystone Clean Water Team and the Environment by recycling your cell phone.  ”

If you would like to set up a program to help recycle cellphones at an event, business, or other organization.  Through our program we can recycle  cell phones, iPods, game systems, and small digital cameras.  If your interested, please contact us.

Volunteer

We seek new people at all skill levels for a variety of programs. One thing that everyone can do is attend meetings to share ideas on improving the Program, enabling us to better understand and address the concerns of well owners.  We look for people that can forward solid articles, help coordinate local education efforts, and more.  Become part of the Water Science Basics!

Everything we do began with an idea.

We realize your time is precious and the world is hectic. CCGG’s volunteers do only what they’re comfortable with. It can be a little or a lot.  Get YOUR WATER Tested – Discounted Screening Tests !

For more information, please go to CCGG’s About Page or contact us.

Keystone Clean Water Team is a 501(c)(3) IRS approved nonprofit, volunteer organization and your donation is tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.    Unsolicited donations are appreciated (Helps us complete our mission).

Help the Organization and Get Your Water Tested or Order the Private Well Owner Guide (proceeds benefit This Organization). Water Science Basics!