Sustainable Energy Video: The Story of Cap & Trade

Carbon Trading and Carbon Offsets could be the worst thing to happen to the planet, according to Annie Leonard’s (The Story of Stuff) new video. Watch it today.

The Story of Cap & Trade with Annie Leonard

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MUM Campus Building Gets Geothermal

Fairfield Market employee stands proudly in front of the digger

Golden Dome Fairfield Market employee stands proudly in front of the geothermal rig.

By Lee Leffler

On the campus of Maharishi University of Managment, the new storage building by the Golden Dome Market is now being heated and cooled with geothermal technology as part of a pilot project to install geothermal systems in additional campus buildings.

Geothermal technology involves drilling holes in the ground, inserting loops of pipes, then circulating water through the pipes. Since the ground in this region is a constant 55 degrees Fahrenheit, heat can be either extracted or rejected as it is circulated through the pipes, providing winter heating and summer cooling.

Geothermal pipes outside the Golden Dome Market in Fairfield, Iowa

Geothermal pipes outside the Golden Dome Market in Fairfield, Iowa

The University is leasing a special rig to drill holes horizontally, 15 feet underground. The drill can run under lawns, parking lots, and other terrain, without disturbing the landscape. When the drill has gone far enough (usually several hundred feet), it is sent to the surface. A loop of polyethylene pipe is attached to the drill head, and the drill slowly retreats back through the hole, bringing the pipe with it. Soon, the pipe is underground, ready to be filled with water and connected to a ground source heat pump that uses only a small amount of electricity (about a quarter of the amount used by a small space heater).

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