Is geothermal used primarily in homes?
While many homes have been fitted with geothermal systems, a large number of commercial enterprises, including factories, retail stores, office buildings and schools also use geothermal to save energy and protect the environment. In fact, there are more than one million installations in the United States today. According to the U.S. EPA, schools are a particularly attractive place for the use of technology. Across the country, schools using geothermal right now are saving an estimated $25,000,000 in energy costs-which can be used instead for better educational equipment and more teachers. These schools also save a half-billion pounds of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions per year. Should all of the nation’s schools convert to geothermal, the EPA has estimated that we could reduce oil imports by 61 million barrels annually, and provide the same environmental benefits as planting 8 million acres of trees or converting nearly 4 million cars to zero-emission vehicles. If the same comparison we
