In North America, 350 billion Kwh worth of hot water are discarded annually through the drains. How can wastewater’s thermal energy be reused? HIGHMARK’s Richard Gerbe shared how this is possible via SHARC Energy Systems’ heat recovery technologies at the 2019 NY-GEO conference.

New York Geothermal Energy Organization (NY-GEO), a not-for-profit trade association, founded in 2014 and representing the geothermal heat pump (GHP) industry in New York State, is dedicated to promoting geothermal heating and cooling. Our 70 founding members include geothermal system designers, installers, drillers, general contractors, engineers, manufacturers, distributors, renewable energy consultants and industry stakeholders who are interested in promoting the use of ground-source heat pumps to heat and cool buildings throughout New York State.

The NY-Geo conference provides a central location for industry members of the greater New York area to meet and discuss how geothermal energy can be used in the future to create a more energy efficient world.  At the NY-Geo 2019, HIGHMARK-NY’s Richard Gerbe was invited to sit on a panel and discuss Innovative Thermal Exchange: Building Foundations, Angled Drilling, Wastewater & Aquafer Energy Storage.  You can listen to the presentation with slides here. 

Why Geothermal?

There is no doubt that geothermal heat pumps (GHPs)* represent a heating and cooling technology that is essential for us to meet the challenges of the 21st Century. The following benefits clearly make the initial capital costs an investment in the future of our local and global communities:

• The earth itself is our solar collector
• The earth itself is our energy storage system
• GHP Systems harvest renewable energy 24/7 with no need for a backup system
• GHP Systems work to improve utility load factors while reducing peak demand
• GHP Systems utilize local labor to strengthen the local economy
• GHP Systems reduce our dependence on fossil fuels reducing our carbon footprint
• GHP Systems reduce the home energy budget
• GHP Systems are extremely scalable, from low income housing to community loops serving multiple buildings on college campuses (such as the Skidmore Energy Node Project)
• Channels natural gas away from home heating towards solving other challenging energy markets, such as industrial needs

* Also known as “ground source heat pumps,” “geo-exchange systems” or “low temperature geothermal.”