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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowBall State University plans to drill 3,750 wells, each 400-feet deep, to tap the earth’s nearly constant temperature for campus heating and cooling.
The $66 million geothermal conversion project will eliminate the university’s coal-fired boilers, which currently produce 85,000 tons of carbon dioxide a year, said Tom Kinghorn, Ball State treasurer and vice president of business affairs.
He said the geothermal wells would also reduce operating costs, promote a cleaner environment and create an estimated 870 jobs.
The university plans to start drilling on May 9, one day after spring commencement.
The project was approved by the university’s board of trustees on Friday. Ball State plans to ask the Indiana legislature for $40 million, which was originally approved to replace the boilers.
Kinghorn said he hopes the school can benefit from part of the proposed federal stimulus package intended to support renewable energy projects.
“We think we are positioned to take advantage of economic stimulus money,” he said. If that happens, the project could be completed in five years. Without federal aid, completion could take 10 to 12 years.”
Trustee Frank Hancock expects federal support for the project, because “we are going to be leaders in something recognized nationally.”
“It’s the right climate, the right time to do this,” he said. “It’s great to be seen as somebody leading [the way].”
The ground in central Indiana maintains a nearly constant temperature of about 55 degrees, which is warmer than the air above it in the winter and cooler than the air in summer.
Geothermal heat pumps take advantage of this resource to heat and cool buildings, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
Ball State’s geothermal system will include bore holes or well fields in open places like soccer fields, band practice fields and residence hall yards, three energy centers, water pipes and heat pump chillers.
Water will be circulated into the earth in a closed-loop piping system before being returned to the surface and distributed through the energy centers, which will act as central heat exchangers.
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