tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62263102587085146982024-03-28T17:08:47.370-07:00Energy-PE, LLCProfessional engineering services for energy resource use and supplyTed Reinharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02316965987474987344noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6226310258708514698.post-836475378651637652023-10-18T18:39:00.000-07:002023-10-18T18:39:01.473-07:00Mantis 2024<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Egggggs! I know it's October and it's supposed to be brains, but I've got eggs, which I will not eat. Today I was putting away hoses for the winter and found these eggs attached to one. I bent the hose until the eggs fell into a waiting plastic pill bottle. What will hatch in Spring 2024? Watch this space! Maybe they aren't mantis eggs. Wouldn't that be exciting? See <a href="https://energype.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-mantisity.html" target="_blank">The Mantisity!</a> for context.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEibPo0nFJHbCnyCmJK4ZY_S27o5rAjeXe0BLZHVNehyndjzTD1dYBvu388c4ULCcph239F99YAe2lJjIwTo3oUa3oVCSH0dcvXyK3K1PfNoiXg0txW1Hij70j5ux5YlvM6UQh4AvY77WYLXAZXdgAU9aoVHKGcfEm0isJYHwcScg6-UxP58PeEEjBTt66E" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Insect eggs attached to a red garden hose" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEibPo0nFJHbCnyCmJK4ZY_S27o5rAjeXe0BLZHVNehyndjzTD1dYBvu388c4ULCcph239F99YAe2lJjIwTo3oUa3oVCSH0dcvXyK3K1PfNoiXg0txW1Hij70j5ux5YlvM6UQh4AvY77WYLXAZXdgAU9aoVHKGcfEm0isJYHwcScg6-UxP58PeEEjBTt66E=w480-h640" title="Insect eggs attached to a red garden hose" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEibPo0nFJHbCnyCmJK4ZY_S27o5rAjeXe0BLZHVNehyndjzTD1dYBvu388c4ULCcph239F99YAe2lJjIwTo3oUa3oVCSH0dcvXyK3K1PfNoiXg0txW1Hij70j5ux5YlvM6UQh4AvY77WYLXAZXdgAU9aoVHKGcfEm0isJYHwcScg6-UxP58PeEEjBTt66E" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEibPo0nFJHbCnyCmJK4ZY_S27o5rAjeXe0BLZHVNehyndjzTD1dYBvu388c4ULCcph239F99YAe2lJjIwTo3oUa3oVCSH0dcvXyK3K1PfNoiXg0txW1Hij70j5ux5YlvM6UQh4AvY77WYLXAZXdgAU9aoVHKGcfEm0isJYHwcScg6-UxP58PeEEjBTt66E" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjMfeLBjKw2LHtedR8Es3_GUEUpm-TZ8R5PPwcA3CwP1guuMSWIq8diNrJEgAp_M9UdrcY5T5zaHC7MKdac3vljhVJ9TTyvMA_PVNyVAn5U14LXw2IqwkPqTmFH0ebhxnyO4ppZsCaTPskTttL54W5MjvVFX2BG_65OG7v1Dbb6tAauKn0LWwFM6QV3WJ0" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Insect eggs attached to a red garden hose" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjMfeLBjKw2LHtedR8Es3_GUEUpm-TZ8R5PPwcA3CwP1guuMSWIq8diNrJEgAp_M9UdrcY5T5zaHC7MKdac3vljhVJ9TTyvMA_PVNyVAn5U14LXw2IqwkPqTmFH0ebhxnyO4ppZsCaTPskTttL54W5MjvVFX2BG_65OG7v1Dbb6tAauKn0LWwFM6QV3WJ0=w480-h640" title="Insect eggs attached to a red garden hose" width="480" /></a></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhN2swzZAYV7YJ8ELSNds5na13x3ujcR4D6u-PeXx8yQwwCLLcJCBtmctBpbKmvEPBodBakxLkhj02uoysQ00JiUA108wt3IOCdEv65seT2xWB2_AmIVoX7q9jRt2kNODueVh4rtc99-Dbe7xCDHzhxQ2HFnXcPcrnhVLq9hA0mkx2Xv3YQ1YlTfOj1HHs" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Insect eggs attached to a red garden hose" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhN2swzZAYV7YJ8ELSNds5na13x3ujcR4D6u-PeXx8yQwwCLLcJCBtmctBpbKmvEPBodBakxLkhj02uoysQ00JiUA108wt3IOCdEv65seT2xWB2_AmIVoX7q9jRt2kNODueVh4rtc99-Dbe7xCDHzhxQ2HFnXcPcrnhVLq9hA0mkx2Xv3YQ1YlTfOj1HHs=w480-h640" title="Insect eggs attached to a red garden hose" width="480" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><br /> <p></p>Ted Reinharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02316965987474987344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6226310258708514698.post-62450026780812730012023-10-14T17:18:00.001-07:002023-10-14T17:19:41.509-07:00The Mantisity!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In March 2023 I found some eggs laid in rows on the branch of a red bud tree in our yard. I took a picture of it because it looked like the rows of eggs I'd found on one our back porch screens when I took them down for the winter in November 2022. I'd saved the eggs from the screen in a plastic pill bottle. Later I noticed the eggs on the red bud branch had rows of little holes along the side like some things had crawled out. I failed to take pictures of either the eggs on the screen or the rows of holes I later saw on the eggs on the red bud tree.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiKo4xTkZEBptDunH8uqBchlisoZovu7ge75j4AHWy-gjUSSEm1mYUpdsQhBwgm49j3CQNne2EN1epj6o8aJ-Qhz421kFRKcQCVPdWnK4PoZDQFORz-yxvRJlJVomY8UPcQwvw2bNeQCDvjMEnSYhZpEFJ_bAvWDA2y0DibCGQw6hblcB72wJLUJeZfWhM" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Eggs found on red bud tree branch March 2023" data-original-height="188" data-original-width="448" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiKo4xTkZEBptDunH8uqBchlisoZovu7ge75j4AHWy-gjUSSEm1mYUpdsQhBwgm49j3CQNne2EN1epj6o8aJ-Qhz421kFRKcQCVPdWnK4PoZDQFORz-yxvRJlJVomY8UPcQwvw2bNeQCDvjMEnSYhZpEFJ_bAvWDA2y0DibCGQw6hblcB72wJLUJeZfWhM=w400-h168" title="Eggs found on red bud tree branch March 2023" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Eggs found on red bud tree branch March 2023</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After I found the eggs on the tree I remembered the eggs in the pill bottle. I brought them up from the dark cellar where they had spent the winter, put a few drops of water inside, and put it on the kitchen window sill (which faces West). In May 2023 I noticed the pill bottle had become fuzzy inside and my first thought was it looked like mosquitos. When I looked closer I saw tiny mantises. I got my camera and took the pill bottle outside, opened it, and dumped the contents on a stack of red bricks.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Some of the mantises were still alive. One went over toward another kind of aggressively. I left them on top of a stack of bricks and they were gone the next day. End of story, but crappy photos of mantises presented as an exciting storyboard below. The first photo of the dead mantises half-hatched reminded me of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindenburg_disaster" target="_blank">Hindenburg disaster</a> and that provided the title to this post.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhvKIO7TrPzIHkIttY3Cdd3oJEg-jPeMuLPamuBxCYMpHf8eoGCZjcssm61NtP9eJsuaTdLX8mf3ZUFn-APUGT0UOz09YVnKJ0I5jPdXTGEVQQIK7-_gWOBdRM1DBMsFrxCGoRKCvsR8cEjhol82NZv3zZR9ecirYPO0T-0yRAn1TlRZR9RsdpZzm7e7Ss" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Hatched mantis eggs with dead mantises that didn't get out still stuck in their shells. The eggs have a screen pattern from when they were laid on the screen." data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="5184" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhvKIO7TrPzIHkIttY3Cdd3oJEg-jPeMuLPamuBxCYMpHf8eoGCZjcssm61NtP9eJsuaTdLX8mf3ZUFn-APUGT0UOz09YVnKJ0I5jPdXTGEVQQIK7-_gWOBdRM1DBMsFrxCGoRKCvsR8cEjhol82NZv3zZR9ecirYPO0T-0yRAn1TlRZR9RsdpZzm7e7Ss=w640-h426" width="640" /></a></div>The screen pattern side of mantis eggs with partially hatch mantises protruding from the sides</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhgFm563cbOYuJIsWWYgkqr3eFr1TBoeFVXLYzDKUd-Cnn4ma7qVAfj2L_JbxCaPD6sBkmaVrXgEEgNDENWxE8f_ww3prkCKIKiEdBp4VtERz2VdrlmXEIWT95e1Mt6A5sYKknOVxml98kJv6L8SeexEvjrLxuZT2e3rO2Y5nS_q0_0ulI8b4b8IocCfKo" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="Mantis in the cap of a plastic pill bottle" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="5184" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhgFm563cbOYuJIsWWYgkqr3eFr1TBoeFVXLYzDKUd-Cnn4ma7qVAfj2L_JbxCaPD6sBkmaVrXgEEgNDENWxE8f_ww3prkCKIKiEdBp4VtERz2VdrlmXEIWT95e1Mt6A5sYKknOVxml98kJv6L8SeexEvjrLxuZT2e3rO2Y5nS_q0_0ulI8b4b8IocCfKo=w640-h426" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">A mantis in the cap of a plastic pill bottle</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhxgy6EOxUBsuJSU4Vmb-UnI3pBnFqYJ9itSDQ3yXmJsNAXQsTUa5ZkchEvjqMNv3x6qq4Sm6BxHneuXPCOP4n-RbJhkkvClzoUb3ksa-SqKhcIP7SCYlRSsQkvjXi7fLhnFMfPbLNDSyUOsTYsStIkc0nsQsZOoszIDAeMdW_Bk4WlNmeseRg4yhlOdfg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Mantis surveying the carnage of the eggs and loose mantis body parts scattered on a red brick" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="5184" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhxgy6EOxUBsuJSU4Vmb-UnI3pBnFqYJ9itSDQ3yXmJsNAXQsTUa5ZkchEvjqMNv3x6qq4Sm6BxHneuXPCOP4n-RbJhkkvClzoUb3ksa-SqKhcIP7SCYlRSsQkvjXi7fLhnFMfPbLNDSyUOsTYsStIkc0nsQsZOoszIDAeMdW_Bk4WlNmeseRg4yhlOdfg=w640-h426" title="Mantis surveying the carnage of the eggs and loose mantis body parts scattered on a red brick" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">A mantis surveying the carnage of the eggs and loose mantis body parts scattered on a red brick</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiJblYDMZlMi3LIbyscVd3sFPhK8DcUcPZVtw1jvmyEPz9PkuOHJDXMxGr7I2SfjlX289Vsrz-HxpQLVwg1VMjL933C4ICEOnA34Trr9xmnQgtbD2hn5yGfDPGl4ZBiULSRAMMx4ah9aCeM9EIHbNTumuwAU-bTbGArAaEuPpMWyjdd06XDvGi7VpalbdQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="A second mantis is gathering its wits near the pill bottle" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="5184" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiJblYDMZlMi3LIbyscVd3sFPhK8DcUcPZVtw1jvmyEPz9PkuOHJDXMxGr7I2SfjlX289Vsrz-HxpQLVwg1VMjL933C4ICEOnA34Trr9xmnQgtbD2hn5yGfDPGl4ZBiULSRAMMx4ah9aCeM9EIHbNTumuwAU-bTbGArAaEuPpMWyjdd06XDvGi7VpalbdQ=w640-h426" title="A second mantis is gathering its wits near the pill bottle" width="640" /></a></div>A second mantis is gathering its wits near the pill bottle<br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjUfirtvs0T5ti1PKpWtX0jIqmOSUfe8oUiXNv0G7OUDdZyQSfIoz24_7d5SnaHA737nTRnjB-6gvToUgsas8XjTSfhdOIee9QnCupH6p2bhTcyOE_misX77QxEK43BplHTQYmXOwDPBIU6LKsj_rpHJANLZgSwYIeOQyfaHS--AlpA04nRdGNoqye47DE" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The first mantis runs over toward the second mantis aggressively" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="5184" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjUfirtvs0T5ti1PKpWtX0jIqmOSUfe8oUiXNv0G7OUDdZyQSfIoz24_7d5SnaHA737nTRnjB-6gvToUgsas8XjTSfhdOIee9QnCupH6p2bhTcyOE_misX77QxEK43BplHTQYmXOwDPBIU6LKsj_rpHJANLZgSwYIeOQyfaHS--AlpA04nRdGNoqye47DE=w640-h426" title="The first mantis runs over toward the second mantis aggressively" width="640" /></a></div>The first mantis runs over toward the second mantis aggressively</div></div><p></p>Ted Reinharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02316965987474987344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6226310258708514698.post-12090238929963168632019-05-29T16:08:00.000-07:002019-05-29T17:48:08.282-07:00Not A Geothermal ExperienceThere are no thermal springs in Missouri according to the NOAA National Center for Environmental Information <a href="https://maps.ngdc.noaa.gov/viewers/hot_springs/" target="_blank">Thermal Springs Viewer</a>. That NOAA resource, and <a href="https://www.smu.edu/-/media/Site/Dedman/Academics/Programs/Geothermal-Lab/Graphics/Geothermal_MapNA_7x10in.gif?la=en" target="_blank">other sources</a>, do show a warm spring just a mile south of Missouri in Warm Springs, Arkansas. I have taken U.S. highway 67 between Little Rock, Arkansas and Saint Louis, Missouri many times and been about 20 miles south of this warm spring when passing through Pocahontas, Arkansas. The warm spring is also about 50 miles south of the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/ozar/index.htm" target="_blank">Ozark National Scenic Riverways</a>, where I have been many more times for vacations on the cold spring-fed waters of the Current, Jacks Fork, and Eleven Point Rivers (the Eleven Point is not part of the Ozark National Scenic Riverways; it is a <a href="https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/mtnf/recarea/?recid=21676" target="_blank">National Scenic River</a> in the Mark Twain National Forest managed by the National Forest Service). Until about ten years ago I didn't know the warm spring was there and other than a location, temperature, and satellite images there is no information available about it online. Recently, my assistant had a three-day weekend off from her day job and agreed to a field trip to measure some Missouri cold spring temperatures, temperatures at three road crossings of Warm Springs Creek, and maybe a warm spring temperature (probably on private property). The Thermal Springs Viewer shows a map, location, and temperature for the warm spring: West side of Warm Springs Creek, south of Baker Den Road, and north of Blackwell Den Road, with a temperature of 82 degrees Fahrenheit.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVyd6HQwZJ0r6GzJ8-ztuiNBFAUeCdj_ZTED9fqpp1q8CNuk0M7Kgx0mctZxlxfqLTu3ZhyphenhyphenbVk6PnW50uvpqbSLL8XXgalNqHBeXW2veVy2jqa4EghtnsNOQTLGhr9qwEezHSb1QoHdco/s1600/ThermalSpringsViewerWarmSpringsAR.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVyd6HQwZJ0r6GzJ8-ztuiNBFAUeCdj_ZTED9fqpp1q8CNuk0M7Kgx0mctZxlxfqLTu3ZhyphenhyphenbVk6PnW50uvpqbSLL8XXgalNqHBeXW2veVy2jqa4EghtnsNOQTLGhr9qwEezHSb1QoHdco/s640/ThermalSpringsViewerWarmSpringsAR.png" width="640" /></a>.</div>
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A warm spring is a spring with a temperature which is above the typical cold spring temperature for the area and below typical human body temperature. Water temperature sampling apparatus consisted of an insulated plastic tumbler and a dial thermometer with 2 degrees Fahrenheit increments.<br />
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While the idea for this field trip was to locate and measure the temperature of the warm spring, the temperatures of nearby cold springs were needed to provide a control temperature, the typical climate-dependent deep well temperature for the local climate. Fortunately southern Missouri has an abundance of springs. Here is a list of fifteen large springs in Missouri from the <a href="https://dnr.mo.gov/geology/wrc/springs.htm" target="_blank">Missouri Department of Natural Resources</a>. We sampled cold spring temperatures at five of them: Big, Greer, Alley, Round, and Maramec.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXzp_WGlukff9TEhiptDhR7AisfetON9ML-ZdZ1JbORuOfeXoPaIWAWslh0uIgeZbxg9wftzGDmwHJKhjWqQCE7zKTVawILf3Crw7BxCLM24-ikL1zyVmhUGXZ9TodYPi1v4EiQQa2gKk/s1600/MoDNRsprings.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="332" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXzp_WGlukff9TEhiptDhR7AisfetON9ML-ZdZ1JbORuOfeXoPaIWAWslh0uIgeZbxg9wftzGDmwHJKhjWqQCE7zKTVawILf3Crw7BxCLM24-ikL1zyVmhUGXZ9TodYPi1v4EiQQa2gKk/s400/MoDNRsprings.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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The first temperature sample was taken 2019-05-25 at <a href="https://www.nps.gov/ozar/planyourvisit/big-spring.htm" target="_blank">Big Spring</a>, 56 degrees Fahrenheit at 4:00 PM. Photo is of the larger of two above surface flows from the bluff. Sample taken at the smaller one.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCmRdYXkwN204HHdBHgZ4Rd4HZnMg1almPf3-0-XrU4Vy2rfUQKYN6gsQx1r4yKfl-NtSr0_JTruFg9BafU1U7m0ezhKwjyls4ryhTlPIC2LwRhQomef3kDrv7sYrDRf-LGgJgOF3hLc4/s1600/IMG_3386.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCmRdYXkwN204HHdBHgZ4Rd4HZnMg1almPf3-0-XrU4Vy2rfUQKYN6gsQx1r4yKfl-NtSr0_JTruFg9BafU1U7m0ezhKwjyls4ryhTlPIC2LwRhQomef3kDrv7sYrDRf-LGgJgOF3hLc4/s640/IMG_3386.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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The following morning, 2019-05-26, we took Missouri highway P south through the <a href="https://nature.mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/places/fourche-creek-ca" target="_blank">Fourche Creek Conservation Area</a> and turned west on Missouri Road on the north side of the Missouri/Arkansas border. Photo is of Warm Springs Creek, 66 degrees Fahrenheit at 10:15 AM, at the Missouri Road ford, looking west.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr8Fsq1TAvyXexv823jJWXNwTa4wUVKk4WtjyzSDKtIVhGFZMfa9_pvF8IjoQyGlIWNxjlEkw4BppTw355pWjcwkSKAICqmD2MLevCIvBdcGA-V6HGi2q4605hkJ013yV4jDq0yxiwhpg/s1600/IMG_3389.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr8Fsq1TAvyXexv823jJWXNwTa4wUVKk4WtjyzSDKtIVhGFZMfa9_pvF8IjoQyGlIWNxjlEkw4BppTw355pWjcwkSKAICqmD2MLevCIvBdcGA-V6HGi2q4605hkJ013yV4jDq0yxiwhpg/s640/IMG_3389.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
We then took Arkansas highway 251 one mile south to <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Warm+Springs,+AR+72478/@36.4803386,-91.0690252,14z/" target="_blank">Warm Springs, Arkansas</a>. Photo is of Baker Den Road low water bridge north of town, looking south, creek temperature 66 degrees Fahrenheit at 10:30 AM, upstream and north of the location of the warm spring. On the west side of the creek near where the car is parked there is a sign which describes trespassing as a quicker way to meet God than praying.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7xqWi6WBaWaStXHwbTDmjq6bZJdWrFkDCFDjDbinAlVITA4eKDLUHPRPyZfBMBlfpemVbLXQRN9aspCKYiI1fgS2PWIL7bVkuGQgAA2IJ_uC7hkIGPi2rtGgyLemCZUcHmOKFr4Iqc-o/s1600/IMG_3394.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7xqWi6WBaWaStXHwbTDmjq6bZJdWrFkDCFDjDbinAlVITA4eKDLUHPRPyZfBMBlfpemVbLXQRN9aspCKYiI1fgS2PWIL7bVkuGQgAA2IJ_uC7hkIGPi2rtGgyLemCZUcHmOKFr4Iqc-o/s640/IMG_3394.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Photo looking west across Blackwell Den Road low water bridge, Warm Springs, Arkansas, downstream and south of the location of the warm spring. The Warm Springs Creek temperature was 66 Fahrenheit at 10:45 AM. The overgrown driveway leading north on the west side of the creek has a dropped cable with a no trespassing sign and many ticks. I talked with a local gentleman in a pickup truck who stopped and talked with me at the bridge after I took this photo. Warm Springs, Arkansas, which now has no services, used to have a theater and hotel. The warm springs were located on the east side of the creek in a building we could see, but was clearly on private property and surrounded by weeds three feet tall. Perhaps the warm water was piped across the creek to the building. We'd tried. It was time to move on.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgffuvX5WlEvZOReeGzi2QZsU1qNOGzAo7i3a6bbvSlkSN4IPc6C55SyxzPMXCylpTGMmBiGrR7m5bo_AyXI-fT6nzlbLeJlZMnZgoPT8AfKZOttJFzvJ0iI8sVUL87aLpMx0PbuLJ9T0E/s1600/IMG_3396.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgffuvX5WlEvZOReeGzi2QZsU1qNOGzAo7i3a6bbvSlkSN4IPc6C55SyxzPMXCylpTGMmBiGrR7m5bo_AyXI-fT6nzlbLeJlZMnZgoPT8AfKZOttJFzvJ0iI8sVUL87aLpMx0PbuLJ9T0E/s640/IMG_3396.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
We then headed north and west to <a href="https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/regions/eastern/GreerSpring/index.shtml" target="_blank">Greer Spring</a>, 56 degrees Fahrenheit at 1:00 PM. Sample was taken near the lower left of this photo.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSohQeeTexPpuVB5mII0PlPQpCf1AK7JduJbBLZr_X6JYsKN2UAz6rDzJ3kMsm4TDDR4H165NcXrW0BS_Eg1_kB4d5YRRgqci7GJcYe5_xRiC4MYyI_LJHV_cDWMX11NpuxCzYVhGcTIU/s1600/IMG_3406.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSohQeeTexPpuVB5mII0PlPQpCf1AK7JduJbBLZr_X6JYsKN2UAz6rDzJ3kMsm4TDDR4H165NcXrW0BS_Eg1_kB4d5YRRgqci7GJcYe5_xRiC4MYyI_LJHV_cDWMX11NpuxCzYVhGcTIU/s640/IMG_3406.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
We next headed farther north and west to <a href="https://nature.mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/places/alley-spring" target="_blank">Alley Spring</a>, 57 degrees Fahrenheit at 3:00 PM. The edges of the spring pool are surrounded by vegetation and dropoffs (a tumbler with a four foot handle would have helped). Sample was taken where my assistant is pointing, where the spring water spills out of the spring pool.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYuTtCw1K3GgiDsY-mo5A1P9xIVaeZ7RI1MXoGPfCF2Xs8C0aAkp2rFlD9fzDS6lDhVfgJ4HvCd5IYkaWGtFbTvPMqk1tgTbpFt2qECKP_cQ1ML_DTyDAWM6xLnmY19PoxThZX_Bt7NtQ/s1600/IMG_3411.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYuTtCw1K3GgiDsY-mo5A1P9xIVaeZ7RI1MXoGPfCF2Xs8C0aAkp2rFlD9fzDS6lDhVfgJ4HvCd5IYkaWGtFbTvPMqk1tgTbpFt2qECKP_cQ1ML_DTyDAWM6xLnmY19PoxThZX_Bt7NtQ/s640/IMG_3411.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
We next drove east to Round Spring, 56 degrees Fahrenheit at 4:00 PM. Sample was taken by the log in the sun on other side of spring in this photo. This spring is much less dramatic than I recall it as a child, but the bluffs above most of these springs are round so my memories of which large springs I saw back then might be more of a composite. There is another pool next to this one with nicer bluffs, but it looked stagnant, and this one has water rising to the surface. The ripples can be seen to the left of the tree in the middle foreground.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV5irMCU_05PqOwImCHHUvxmYLr93r9vIQKc8WyxdzRUtb-LOoxQy3Foj-ls_Usyw7kf2Hg8Dsp0Gv0Q1Qqy47C7Ki_-KlRyk00vQF9yXdena9d-udl5kPCwXQZ6vbMu9vIjiN6FfzgvY/s1600/IMG_3420.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV5irMCU_05PqOwImCHHUvxmYLr93r9vIQKc8WyxdzRUtb-LOoxQy3Foj-ls_Usyw7kf2Hg8Dsp0Gv0Q1Qqy47C7Ki_-KlRyk00vQF9yXdena9d-udl5kPCwXQZ6vbMu9vIjiN6FfzgvY/s640/IMG_3420.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
The morning of 2019-05-27 we headed to <a href="http://www.maramecspringpark.com/" target="_blank">Maramec Spring</a>, 56 degrees Fahrenheit at 9:00 AM. Sample was taken off the edge of the concrete path near lighter concrete patch.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitDNOvQGRaz6SdWv-bRFbGN9SfNufHJ-xWvaes0F-CxD0DnTHPwQ2yZIS7CVL24Heeo87Bp_jXxnxnyxT-36UOqD1r1UvYAAmoi0MFRPlhpRVFk3s6UOLGwrbB3W8cd-H7mkCOKprifkk/s1600/IMG_3428.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitDNOvQGRaz6SdWv-bRFbGN9SfNufHJ-xWvaes0F-CxD0DnTHPwQ2yZIS7CVL24Heeo87Bp_jXxnxnyxT-36UOqD1r1UvYAAmoi0MFRPlhpRVFk3s6UOLGwrbB3W8cd-H7mkCOKprifkk/s640/IMG_3428.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<div>
<br />
We were unable to locate or sample the warm spring in Warm Springs, Arkansas. The Warm Springs Creek temperatures were 66 degrees Fahrenheit above and below the suspected warm spring location. All cold springs measured were 56 or 57 degrees Fahrenheit. This is lower than the annual average air temperature of about 59 degrees Fahrenheit, and might vary with the season. Measurements at the same locations in, for example, November might be slightly higher than the annual average air temperature. Annual ground temperature extremes lag behind surface temperature extremes, with the time delay increasing, and the amplitude of extreme temperature displacement decreasing, with depth. We saw some huge cold springs and visited two local breweries in Poplar Bluff and Saint James. It was an ambient experience, not a geothermal experience.</div>
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<br />
<br />Ted Reinharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02316965987474987344noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6226310258708514698.post-62673443027965101562018-10-16T04:30:00.002-07:002018-10-23T07:22:40.089-07:00ASHRAE, Geothermal Energy, and Heat Pumps<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXI4QNOMDhC92zcAbMl9r_xH2PUYvY6xh26pmobNEivY09WEeuYsAc7R1tyIbANYnhMPyipl7H4qaOIu0ToKxhDa6gwhMXMCj4ziOZ8rKR263GoAIm1Jx1W_WK71UFK35jHFWAizcmt0U/s1600/ASHRAEGeothermalEnergy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="123" data-original-width="973" height="50" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXI4QNOMDhC92zcAbMl9r_xH2PUYvY6xh26pmobNEivY09WEeuYsAc7R1tyIbANYnhMPyipl7H4qaOIu0ToKxhDa6gwhMXMCj4ziOZ8rKR263GoAIm1Jx1W_WK71UFK35jHFWAizcmt0U/s400/ASHRAEGeothermalEnergy.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A <a href="https://energy-pe.com/projects/geothermalenergy/I-P_A15_Ch34_TBR.pdf" target="_blank">revision </a>suggested for page 34.10, Geothermal Energy chapter, ASHRAE <u>2015 HVAC Applications</u> handbook.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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[Text copied from <a href="https://energy-pe.com/">energy-pe.com</a> project report, <a href="https://energy-pe.com/projects/geothermalenergy/ASHRAEGeothermalEnergy.pdf" target="_blank">ASHRAEGeothermalEnergy.pdf</a>,]</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />
Theodore B. Reinhart, P.E.<br />
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When ASHRAE published its <u>2017 Fundamentals</u> handbook
in June 2017, the revised "Energy Resources" chapter corrected
technical errors relating to geothermal energy and heat pumps from previous
editions. Similar errors are in ASHRAE's <u>2015 HVAC Applications</u> handbook.
Its next edition, the <u>2019 HVAC Applications</u> handbook, is scheduled to
be published in June 2019. The corrections in the 2017 handbook got started
when I attended the meeting of the handbook subcommittee of Technical Committee
2.8 on June 26, 2016 at ASHRAE's June 2016 annual conference, and my copy of
the new handbook arrived on June 1, 2017. I was surprised to see the result and
<a href="https://twitter.com/energy_pe/status/870464457209769984">tweeted</a>,
"The 2017 ASHRAE Handbook of Fundamentals includes all my suggested
changes to Chapter 34 Energy Resources. #Geothermal #Ambient @ashraenews".
The next day I started a project to help ASHRAE's Technical Committee 6.8, which
has responsibility for revising the "Geothermal Energy" chapter for
the 2019 handbook. This project report describes:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<ul>
<li>ASHRAE's
important role in the energy use of buildings,</li>
<li>Geothermal
energy,</li>
<li>Ground
source heat pumps,</li>
<li>How
"geothermal" is used incorrectly to describe ground source heat pumps,</li>
<li>Some
examples of ASHRAE using "geothermal" to describe ground source heat
pumps,</li>
<li>How ASHRAE's technical errors matter,</li>
<li>My revisions in the <u>2017 Fundamentals</u> handbook,
and</li>
<li>Energy-PE's project to help ASHRAE avoid using
"geothermal" to describe ground source heat
pumps in its <u>2019 HVAC Applications</u> handbook.</li>
</ul>
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<o:p></o:p>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">ASHRAE's important role in the
energy use of buildings<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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ASHRAE, formerly the American Society of Heating,
Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers, is an organization whose members
research, design, build, and operate the systems that control the temperature,
humidity, air quality, and comfort in buildings and the process loads in those
buildings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ASHRAE sponsors research and technical
conferences, publishes transactions, journals, handbooks, standards, and other
technical documents, and supports its regions and local chapters. At the society
level, there are dozens of committees, including technical (TC) and project (PC),
on which members serve voluntarily. Most TCs and PCs are responsible for at
least one handbook chapter or technical standard, including making periodic revisions
and reviewing public comments on those revisions.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Because of ASHRAE's skilled members and open revision
process (anyone can submit comments and propose revisions to ASHRAE handbooks
and standards), some of its publications are treated similarly to model
building codes published by other non-governmental organizations. ASHRAE's standard
90.1, "Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings,"
is <a href="https://www.energycodes.gov/development/federal-buildings">specified
by federal law</a> as the energy efficiency standard for the design and construction
of all federal buildings within its scope. As described at the link, federal
law requires that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) determine whether each
new revision of ASHRAE's standard 90.1 saves energy compared to the previous.
When DOE determines that it does and publishes that finding in the Federal
Register, the new ASHRAE standard 90.1 becomes the new federal regulation without
public comment or possibility of revision, which would normally be done before
a final federal rulemaking. ASHRAE's SSPC 90.1 does the public revision process
before DOE begins its evaluation. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
addition, because many ASHRAE standards relate to the safety and performance of
building systems, they do not need to be included in local, state, or federal
law, and designers do not need to be ASHRAE members, to be responsible for designing
in compliance with other ASHRAE standards, for example ASHRAE's standard 62.1
"Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality."<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Geothermal Energy<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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Geothermal energy describes thermal energy sources within
the Earth, collectively resulting in a relatively tiny average outward energy
flow, with distinct causes unrelated to solar or ocean tidal power at the
surface. Geothermal energy adds heat to the millions-of-years-long processes of
transforming organic deposits into fossil fuels. In the Earth's crust, heat is
generated by the natural fission (decay) of radioactive elements. The mantle is
hotter than the crust, and the core is hotter than the mantle, resulting in a
net heat flow outward from the mantle up through the crust. While natural radioactive
decay may still be present in the mantle and the core, most of the heat from
below the crust is the slow cooling of the core from the much higher
temperature when the Earth formed over four billion years ago, still making its
way out through the thin insulation of the lithosphere. The <a href="https://xkcd.com/2058/">mantle</a> transfers heat from the core to the
crust by convection and conduction. The two main sources of geothermal energy
are the heat transfer from hotter regions below the crust and the heat of
radioactive decay in the crust, <a href="https://igppweb.ucsd.edu/~guy/sio103/chap3.pdf">resulting in</a> a mean
continental geothermal power flux of 0.062 W/m<sup>2</sup> and a mean oceanic
flux of 0.101 W/m<sup>2</sup>. The global mean is about 0.09 W/m<sup>2</sup>
and the total geothermal power of the Earth at the surface is about 44
Terawatts (TW).<o:p></o:p></div>
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The geothermal power flux at the Earth's surface is insignificant
<a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/EnergyBalance">compared</a>
to the mean absorbed solar power and atmospheric infrared radiation (IR). If
geothermal power was the only source heating the Earth's surface (no Sun or
atmospheric IR) the surface temperature would be near 35 K based on the global
mean geothermal power flux. Instead, because of solar radiation and the
atmosphere with its natural "greenhouse effect," the mean surface
temperature of the Earth is about 288 K (15 C) resulting in a mean radiated
heat loss of about 390 W/m<sup>2</sup>, over 4000 times the geothermal power
flux. Geothermal energy has no effect on the surface or near-surface
temperature of the Earth, which is a result of the Sun, the "greenhouse effect,"
and the heat capacity/thermal diffusivity of the soil, water, and rocks near
the Earth's surface. Infrared radiation from the surface of the Earth is nearly
200,000 TW.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The primary sources of data on temperatures and thermal
properties of the Earth's crust are measurements of the geothermal gradient
within continental boreholes and ocean sediment cores, and laboratory analysis
of the thermal properties of core samples. For continental temperatures near
the surface, diurnal oscillations in ground temperature, due to diurnal oscillations
in air temperature, are observed within the top 1 to 2 meters, the amplitude
decreasing with depth. Annual oscillations in ground temperature, due to annual
oscillations in air temperature, are observed to a depth of 19 to 38 meters,
the amplitude also decreasing with depth. Below this depth the annual oscillations
at the surface are no longer noticeable and the undisturbed ground temperature is
about equal to the local mean air temperature, the midpoint of both the diurnal
and annual oscillations.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Without geothermal energy, the mean surface temperature
would determine the temperature within the Earth. At some depth below where
annual oscillations in ground temperature disappear, climate differences would
also eventually decrease to zero, resulting in a uniform deep Earth temperature
of 288 K (15 C). Instead, with geothermal energy, below the depth where diurnal
and annual temperature oscillations go to zero, the mean continental geothermal
gradient of 20 to 30 C/km becomes measurable. For example, for a local climate
temperature of 288 K, the temperature at 100 meters depth due to climate temperature
would be 288 K. With a local geothermal gradient of 20 C/km, an additional
contribution from geothermal energy flux would be 2 K, for a total temperature
of 290 K. This is below the depth of the ground loops of most ground source
heat pump systems.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Ground source heat pumps<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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A ground source heat pump (GSHP) is a heat pump which uses
the ground as its low-temperature reservoir (heat source) and uses a heating
load as its high-temperature reservoir (heat sink). Heat pumps are often reversible,
meaning the cycle can be switched from heating to cooling, using a cooling load
as its heat source and the ground as its heat sink. Using the ground, rather
than air, as a heat pump source/sink for heating/cooling can improve efficiency
because local ground temperature (below 19 meters) is relatively constant and about
the local mean air temperature (the local climate temperature), in contrast to
the outdoor air temperature, which changes with the weather and experiences diurnal
and annual hot and cold extremes.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Being decoupled from weather extremes, a GSHP's higher
installed cost can often be justified by its higher efficiency, with resulting
lower energy cost and/or lower peak power demand, when compared to an air
source heat pump (ASHP). Building heating and cooling loads follow the weather,
meaning heating loads increase when the outdoor air gets cooler and cooling
loads increase when the outdoor air gets hotter. The highest heating and
cooling loads occur during the lowest and highest outdoor air temperatures,
respectively, when ASHP heating and cooling capacities and efficiencies are at their
lowest. A GSHP can use the ground, groundwater, or surface water at a
relatively constant temperature because those source/sinks have a high heat
capacity which dampens and time shifts the effects of diurnal and annual
outdoor air temperature oscillations over days (below 1 meter) and years (below
19 meters). For most climates, GSHPs are among the most efficient, and lowest
peak demand, space heating and cooling systems compared to other systems using
the same source of work (for example, electricity).<o:p></o:p></div>
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A GSHP is usually a packaged, space conditioning, reversible,
all-electric heat pump connected to the ground by a buried, closed-loop,
polyethylene piping system of supply and return headers connected to one, or
usually more, U-tubes, dropped and grouted into uncased vertical wells spaced about
7 meters apart and drilled to a depth of <a href="https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/heat-and-cool/heat-pump-systems/geothermal-heat-pumps">30
to 120 meters</a>. This formula estimates the pipe friction heating power:<o:p></o:p></div>
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Watts = 746 x GPM x
deltaP / 3960.<o:p></o:p></div>
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For example, one U-tube made of nominal 3/4-inch diameter
pipe, serving a one ton cooling load, has a flow of 3 GPM. For a U-tube 75 meters
deep (150 meters of pipe), the deltaP is 8 feet of water column. Using the
formula, the frictional heating of the heat transfer fluid in one U-tube is 4.52
Watts. For a grid with 49 m<sup>2</sup> per well, the average frictional heat
gain per square meter of well field is 0.092 W/m<sup>2</sup>. This formula is
based on a loop filled with water and neglects any heat from the circulating pump
or the pressure drop through the heat pump evaporator, so it is a low estimate.
Usually the ground loop contains a mixture of water and anti-freeze and its higher
viscosity will result in a greater deltaP and more frictional heating power.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Coefficient of performance (COP) is a measure of efficiency
for a heat pump for a given set of operating conditions, the ratio of useful
heating energy supplied divided by useful energy used (for example,
electricity), and GSHP manufacturers publish performance data for GSHPs. For
example, the <a href="https://www.waterfurnace.com/literature/5series/sd2500an.pdf">WaterFurnace
model NS036</a> (ECM blower option, p.35) with an entering water temperature (EWT)
of 60 F at 9 GPM and an entering air temperature of 70 F, has a heating
capacity (HC) of 36,200 BTU/H, an electric input of 2030 W, heat extracted (HE)
of 29,200 BTU/H, and a COP of 5.23. Interpolation with data for 70 F EWT
implies increasing the EWT by 1 K (1.8 F) to<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>61.8 F would increase HC, HE, kW, and COP values to 36,900 BTU/H, 29,900
BTU/H, 2.04 kW, and 5.31, implying a 1 K average increase in ambient ground
temperature from the geothermal gradient might make a 0.07, or 1.5%,
improvement in the COP.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The reason for the discrepancy between this predicted
performance improvement (1.5%) from an average 1 K geothermal gradient boost
over the depth of the ground loop and what is really happening in a closed-loop
system is because elevated ground temperature from the geothermal gradient near
the surface is a result of the ground being undisturbed by thermal effects
other than climate and geothermal power flux over thousands of years. The heat
extracted by the NS036 (3-ton nominal) GSHP at 60 F is 29,200 BTU/H (8560 W).
For a 49 m<sup>2</sup> per ton well field, the average annual power flux of the
GSHP heat extracted by this single-speed heat pump is 13 W/m<sup>2</sup>, 1.5
orders of magnitude less than the climate power flux, but over two orders of
magnitude greater than the geothermal power flux. The GSHP ground flux includes
a load factor correction for 2000 hours in heating mode and 1000 in cooling
mode. In cooling mode the NS036 rejects 41,900 BTU/H (12,280 W) to the ground
loop field. This is an annual average power flux of about 10 W/m<sup>2</sup> of
surface area into the ground and also two orders of magnitude greater than the
geothermal power flux. The GSHP annual cycle of extracting heat in the winter
and rejecting heat in the summer is so large it obliterates any effect
geothermal power flux had on steady-state undisturbed temperatures in the
ground loop field. Local undisturbed temperature at a depth below annual oscillations
is the integration of thousands of years of the local climate boundary
condition at the surface, and geothermal energy no longer affects ground temperature
when a GSHP begins disturbing it on diurnal and annual timescales with its
powerful heating and cooling loads.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="page-break-after: avoid;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">How "geothermal" is
used incorrectly to describe ground source heat pumps<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="page-break-after: avoid;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The word "geothermal" is used incorrectly to
describe ground source heat pumps, ignoring one or both of these two facts,<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
1. Geothermal power has no effect
on local ambient ground temperature.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
2. A heat pump's low-temperature
reservoir isn't useful energy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Ignoring either fact leads to false claims. The first is
making the false claim that the Earth's geothermal power flux affects local
ground (climate) temperature, a widespread confusion. The second is making the
false claim that a heat pump's low-temperature reservoir, like the work done by
its compressor, is a useful energy resource by itself, a direct contradiction
of the second law of thermodynamics. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here's further detail on fact 1, fact 2, and
reservoirs.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Fact 1: The undisturbed temperature of a GSHP ground loop field
is climate dependent. The effect of geothermal power is insignificant. Joseph
Fourier determined this 200 years ago:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
For a globe made of iron, a rate of
increase of a thirtieth of a degree per meter<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
would yield only a quarter of a
centessimal degree of excess surface temperature<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
at the present. This elevation is
in direct ratio to the conductivity of the material<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
of which the envelope is formed,
all other things being equal. Thus, the surface<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
temperature excess of the actual Earth
caused by the interior heat source is very<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
small; it is certainly less than a
thirtieth of a centessimal degree. It should be<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
noted that this last conclusion
applies regardless of the supposition which one<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
may make about the nature of the
internal heat source, whether it be regarded<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
as local or universal, constant or
variable.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
...<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
Though the effect of the interior
heat is no longer perceptible at the surface of the Earth, the total quantity
of this heat which dissipates in a given amount of time, such as a year or a
century, is measurable, and we have determined it; that which traverses one
square meter of surface during a century and expands into celestial space could
melt a column of ice having this square meter as its base, and a height of
about 3m.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
("On the Temperatures of the
Terrestrial Sphere and Interplanetary Space," Joseph Fourier, 1827, <a href="https://geosci.uchicago.edu/~rtp1/papers/Fourier1827Trans.pdf">translation
by R. T. Pierrehumbert</a>, 2004, p.14-15)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here is Pierrehumbert's footnote to the second quoted paragraph
(which is separated by six paragraphs from the first, before the ellipsis):<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
Equivalent to 318 mW/m<sup>2</sup>,
which is 3-4 times modern estimates of geothermal heat flux. As Fourier
implies, the overestimate arises from using the conductivity of iron.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Geothermal power flux (W/m<sup>2</sup>) in localities with typical
geothermal gradients is the same order of magnitude as the example of ground
loop pipe friction power, 0.092 W/m<sup>2</sup>, calculated under the previous heading,
"Ground source heat pumps," (does not account for ground loop pump
cycling).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Fact 2: A heat pump is not a heat engine. A heat engine is
heated by a useful high-temperature reservoir, converts some of that heat to
work, and rejects the remaining heat to a low-temperature reservoir. A heat
pump's low-temperature heat source cannot be a useful energy resource because
it is colder than the useful heat sink temperature made by the compressor; if the
heat source temperature is useful relative to the heating load served by the heat
sink, a heat pump and its work resource will not be needed. The energy a heat
pump extracts from the ambient environment is not useful; the ambient
low-temperature heat naturally transfers through the ground into the lower temperature
ground loop. The compressor uses work to chill its ground loop, then pressurizes
and heats that extracted cold energy from the ground up to a useful temperature
in the condenser, there rejecting the energy from the cold ground mixed with the
hot energy from the compressor to its heat sink and the heating load. All
thermodynamics textbooks confirm this in discussions of heat engines, heat
pumps, and the second law of thermodynamics (<a href="https://twitter.com/energy_pe/status/930240997782671360">for example</a>,
<u>Thermodynamics</u>, Joseph H. Keenan, 1941, p.63). If the local geothermal
gradient had a useful effect on GSHP heating output and efficiency, it would
also have a significant negative effect on GSHP cooling output and efficiency.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Reservoir" has both thermodynamic and general
definitions as differentiated by Keenan (1941 footnote, p.59), "The term
reservoir is used here to mean a heat source or a heat sink of uniform
temperature. It should not be inferred from the more general definition of the
term that heat can be stored. When heat is received from a reservoir the
internal energy of the system which constitutes the reservoir is reduced."<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="page-break-after: avoid;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Some examples of ASHRAE using
"geothermal" to describe ground source heat pumps<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="page-break-after: avoid;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The shocks of oil price increases in the 1970s improved the
prospects for alternative energy resources because higher prices for
conventional energy resources improves the economics for alternative energy
projects. The <a href="https://geothermal.org/">Geothermal Resources Council</a>
(GRC) was founded in 1971; its mission is to, "advance geothermal
development through education, outreach, and dissemination of research."
In early 1979 it hosted, "A symposium of geothermal energy and its direct
uses in the Eastern United States," under DOE contract number ET-78-G-03-2118.
GRC published <a href="https://www.osti.gov/biblio/5647606-symposium-geothermal-energy-its-direct-uses-eastern-united-states-special-report">the
symposium papers</a> in Special Report No. 5, dated April 1979. This was two
months after the Iranian revolution, one month after the Three Mile Island
disaster, at the beginnings of the 1979 oil panic with its spring and summer of
long lines at gasoline stations, and when everybody started pumping their own
gasoline except in New Jersey and Oregon.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The theme of GRC's 1979 symposium was based on theory and
data reporting that while accessible geothermal resources useful for generating
electricity (that is, hot enough to power a heat engine) are rare, accessible
deep aquifers with a capacity and temperature useful for process or space
heating loads are less rare, with "accessible deep aquifers" meaning
"conventional energy costs are high enough to justify drilling and pumping
costs." Most of the papers describe research and projects relating to the
direct use of aquifers which are at a useful temperature as a result of their
depth, age, and the local geothermal gradient. Several papers describe the
direct use of hydrothermal resources with useful temperatures at or near the
surface, the main subject of ASHRAE's 1982 "Geothermal Energy"
chapter. Two papers describe research on generating electricity from hot deep
rock resources. One paper, "Utilization of Geothermal Energy with an
Emphasis on Heat Pumps," (R. C. Niess, p.73-80), presents economic comparisons
for heating process water using three basic system options:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
1. Drill through a normal
geothermal gradient deep enough to get to an aquifer with a useful temperature
(for example, 7700 feet, 170 F).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
2. Drill into a shallower aquifer with
an elevated, but not useful temperature (for example, 3000 feet, 100 F), but
deep enough that a water-to-water, non-reversible, heat pump can heat the
process water to a useful temperature.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
3. Drill the same depth as 2., but
use a boiler to heat the process water to a useful temperature.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One paper reports the estimated effects on efficiency,
capacity, and resource use load factor for hot well water from useful aquifers (about
80 C) to power a lithium bromide-water absorption cycle originally modified for
use with solar heated hot water. In the application the paper describes, it
could be called a geothermal powered chiller, or a geothermal air conditioner, differentiating
it from both gas and electric powered air conditioners.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
>> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ASHRAE
published papers presented at its 1980 semiannual meeting in Transactions,
1980, volume 86 part 1, including "High Temperature Heat Pumps Can
Accelerate the Use of Geothermal Energy," (R. C Niess, p.755-762). This
paper references the Niess 1979 GRC symposium paper and reports on a similar
economic comparison, using either a heat pump or an oil-fired boiler to heat
process water from the <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>not-hot-enough
aquifer temperature to the necessary process temperature. The option of
drilling deep enough to get to a useful temperature is not compared (p.756),
"The cost of drilling wells to these depths could be prohibitive
considering the present (and even the 10-yr projected) cost of conventional
energy sources to heat process water and to supply space heating."<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
>><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ASHRAE
published its first edition of "Geothermal Energy" as chapter 56 in the
<u>1982 Applications</u> handbook, assigned to TC 6.8, Geothermal Energy
Utilization. In the endnotes are four papers from the 1979 GRC symposium part
of a total of 56 papers by some of the same authors and others, describing the
direct use of geothermal energy; neither the 1979 GRC Niess paper nor the 1980
ASHRAE transactions Niess paper are referenced. The chapter uses "heat
pump" four times when describing how to use geothermal energy at
temperatures greater than 15 C and less than 90 C (p.56.2, 56.8, 56.17). It
uses "heat pump" one more time as an example of how a cleanable heat
exchanger made of special materials can be used to isolate a heat pump from corrosion
and scaling by the geothermal fluids from shallow sources or deep aquifers
which were the focus of the chapter (p.56.12). One paragraph in this first
edition of the "Geothermal Energy" chapter describes the nature of
both shallow and deep geothermal fluids as being localized, limited resources,
and the maintenance or renewal of these resources by the local geothermal power
flux as insignificant compared to the power and timescales of human use of energy
resources (p.56.3):<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
Life of the Resource<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
Although the radioactive decay that
appears to be the ultimate source of geothermal energy continues, and can be
expected to continue, for many thousands of years, geothermal energy in a
specific locality is generally not renewable. Only in areas that are
volcanically active would a particular resource be expected to be renewed. The
energy to be mined, from what are now considered geothermal resources, was
built up over a period of many millions of years and could not be restored at
the rate at which it would be withdrawn in any economic application. As a
result, each resource must be developed with a certain life of the development
in mind. The usual procedure is to expand the area that is developed as
additional capacity is required and/or initial energy production rates start to
drop off.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In its December 1982 Bulletin the GRC published "Geothermal
heat-pump systems are competing today against conventional fuels," by R.
C. Niess (p.9-14). The introductory paragraphs end with (p.9), "The cost
of drilling wells to these depths could be prohibitive considering the present
(and even the ten-year projected) cost of conventional energy sources." The
paper presents case studies of three installations:<o:p></o:p></div>
<ul>
<li>A northern plains municipal power agency office building with an open loop well water source heat pump heating and cooling system, with reinjection of well water (55 F pumped, 50 F reinjected). It also has a bypass feature to avoid using the heat pump as a chiller when well water temperature is cold enough to handle cooling loads on its own.</li>
<li>The temperature of water from 1800-foot-deep wells supplying a western city varies from 65 F to 86 F. A county courthouse converted from an oil- and gas-fired boiler to an electric water-to-water industrial heat pump. In the winter, the heat pump chills city water before returning it to the community water mains. In the summer the heat pump cycle is reversed, cooling the courthouse and returning heated water to the city's mains.</li>
<li>A northern plains school campus central plant serving nine buildings converted from an oil-fired boiler to industrial electric heat pumps with 1000 foot deep wells producing 935 GPM at 75 F for a low-temperature reservoir and a 790 GPM heating water distribution system at temperatures up to 190 F as its heat sink. The system configuration is described as a "heat-pump cascade system" at design conditions, when both "heat pumps extract 10 F in cooling the 935 gpm of geothermal water" to produce 7.7 million BTU/H of heating capacity at a temperature of 190 F (p.13). The system can idle one heat pump and reset the heating water supply temperature to 130 F (p.14) when the heating load drops below the need for 190 F at the various campus building terminal units. The system was not designed for changeover to provide chilled water in the cooling season.</li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal">
>><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ASHRAE
published a revision of "Applied Heat Pump Systems" as chapter 10 in
the <u>1984 Systems</u> handbook, assigned to TC 9.4, Applied Heat
Recovery/Heat Pump Systems. The revision added this paragraph to the subheading
Heat Sources and Sinks, Water (p.10.4):<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
The recent interest in geothermal
energy has led to the identification of many geothermal energy sources with
temperatures compatible with heat pump systems. They range from the typical
shallow well temperatures mentioned above to temperatures where direct use for
heating is possible. When using these temperatures which are higher than
typical ground water temperatures, special attention should be given to
designing the system for the proper fluid temperature drop. This is necessary
since increasing the temperature drop decreases the fluid flow requirements for
a specified heating rate. When the available temperature is high enough for
direct use, but the available water resource flow is insufficient to satisfy
the heating, load, the heat pump can be used to meet the load by achieving a
greater drop in the resource temperature than the temperature necessary for
direct use. Geothermal system designs are presented in more detail in Chapter
56 of the 1982 Applications Volume.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This text addition has endnotes for the Niess 1979 GRC symposium
paper, a May 1980 DOE report "Heat pumps for geothermal applications:
availability and performance" (G. M. Reistad and P. Means), and the Niess 1982
GRC Bulletin paper. ASHRAE's false claim, "... the identification of many
geothermal energy sources with temperatures compatible with heat pump systems.
They range from the typical shallow well temperatures mentioned above ..."
confuses "many geothermal energy sources" with the climate effects on
"typical shallow well temperatures," in a section about heat pump
sources and sinks. ASHRAE's false claim ignores fact 1,"geothermal power
has no effect on local ambient ground temperature." In the next subheading,
Heat Sources and Sinks, Earth, ASHRAE describes ground source heat pumps and lists
endnotes for twelve references from the 1940s and 1950s, plus two from 1964,
without using the word "geothermal."<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
>><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ASHRAE published
a revision of "Geothermal Energy" as chapter 45 in the <u>1987 HVAC
Systems and Applications</u> handbook, assigned to TC 6.8, Geothermal Energy
Utilization. The revision included the Life of the Resource paragraph, which
replaced "generally not renewable" with "limited," and
deleted text describing hot water from deep aquifers as "The energy to be
mined, from what are now considered geothermal resources, was built up over a
period of many millions of years and could not be restored at the rate at which
it would be withdrawn in any economic application." (p.45.3)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
Life of the Resource<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
Although the radioactive decay that
appears to be the ultimate source of geothermal energy continues, geothermal
energy in a specific locality is limited. The limiting factor is usually
thermal water, the medium used to transfer the energy from the rocks to the
surface. If production rates of thermal water exceed natural recharge rates,
water levels can decline and the resource should be developed with a reservoir
management plan that includes injection wells to maintain reservoir pressure.
Reservoir life is difficult to determine and involves expensive reservoir
engineering techniques. The usual procedure is to expand the area to be
developed to stages, monitoring the water levels in wells, then apply proper
reservoir management methods as additional capacity is required and/or initial
energy production rates start to decline.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
>><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ASHRAE
published its first edition of "Energy Resources" as chapter 31 in the
<u>1991 HVAC Applications</u> handbook, assigned to TC 4.8, Energy Resources. A
list of energy resource forms includes the text, "Solar energy and wind
energy are also available at most sites, and geothermal energy (earth heat) is
available at some." A list of nondepletable sources of energy includes:
"Earth heat (geothermal)" and "Atmosphere or large body of water
(as used by the heat pump)" (p.31.1). The "Earth heat
(geothermal)" likely refers to the limited useful energy resource form
listed on the same page. ASHRAE's false claim that "Atmosphere or large
body of water (as used by the heat pump)" is a nondepletable source of
energy like hydropower, solar, wind, tidal, and ocean thermal ignores fact 2, "a
heat pump's low-temperature reservoir isn't useful energy."<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
>><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ASHRAE
published a revision of "Geothermal Energy" as chapter 29 in the <u>1991
HVAC Applications</u> handbook, assigned to TC 6.8, Geothermal Energy
Utilization. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The revised subsection,
Equipment and Materials, Downhole heat exchangers (p.29.12) begins with:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
The downhole heat exchanger (DHE)
consists of an arrangement of pipes or tubes suspended in a wellbore. A
secondary fluid circulates from the users system through the exchanger and back
to the system in a closed loop. The primary advantage of a DHE is that only
heat is extracted from (and with heat pumps, heat is rejected to) the earth
eliminating the need for disposal of spent fluids.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The text, "and with heat pumps, heat is rejected to,"
makes the false claim that a geothermal downhole heat exchanger can double as
the heat sink for a heat pump, which ignores this alternate wording of fact 2,
"a useful geothermal resource is a poor high-temperature reservoir for a
heat pump." This 1991 revision also adds an example of an artesian well
distribution system, with a temperature of 190 F at 300 GPM, designed to heat a
fixed number of customers. The return water from these highest temperature
customers then circulates to the municipal pool. The water rejected from the
pool is used as the low-temperature reservoir for a loop heat pump system at a
school. This cascade design results in the production from the hydrothermal
resource being rejected at near ambient temperature, maximizing the temperature
drop for the large fixed cost of the designed supply flow and temperature
(p.29.16).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
>><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ASHRAE
published a revision of "Energy Resources" as chapter 31 in the <u>1995
HVAC Applications</u> handbook, assigned to TC 1.10, Energy Resources. Revisions
include changing part of the list of energy resource forms from one sentence in
1991 (p.31.1), "Solar energy and wind energy are also available at most
sites, and geothermal energy (earth heat) is available at some." into two
sentences (p.31.1):<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
Solar energy and wind energy are
also available at most sites, as is low-level geothermal energy (energy source
for heat pumps). Direct-use (high-temperature) geothermal energy is available
at some.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
ASHRAE's false claim " ... available at most sites, as
is low-level geothermal energy" ignores fact 1, "geothermal power has
no effect on local ambient ground temperature." ASHRAE's false claim that
"low-level geothermal energy (energy source for heat pumps)" is an
energy resource form ignores fact 2, "a heat pump's low-temperature
reservoir isn't useful energy." This revision essentially added the ground
to the list started when the 1991 edition falsely claimed "Atmosphere or
large body of water (as used by the heat pump)" as a nondepletable source
of energy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
>><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ASHRAE
published a revision of "Geothermal Energy" as chapter 29 in the <u>1995
HVAC Applications</u> handbook, assigned to TC 6.8, Geothermal Energy
Utilization. The revised chapter included " ... and ground-source heat
pump applications (generally < 90 F)." in its first sentence as one of
three categories of geothermal resources (29.1). References to heat pumps were
also added to the Resource (renamed Resources) section of the geothermal
chapter. The “low temperature” geothermal energy classification, which had been
defined as 15°C to 90°C, had its lower bound removed; previously warm and hot
springs were considered low temperature geothermal resources, this change added
cold springs to the classification, a false claim ignoring facts 1 and 2 (29.2).
The remainder of the chapter is split into two headings: Direct Use Systems including
content from the 1991 chapter (p.29.3-29.14) and Ground-Source Heat Pump
Systems. Under Direct Use Systems, The Life of the Resource subsection is
replaced by the Resource Life subsection (p.29.4):<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
Resource Life<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
The life of the resource has a
direct bearing on the economic viability of a particular geothermal
application. There is little experience on which to base projections of
resource life for heavily developed geothermal resources. However, resources
can readily be developed in a manner that will allow useful lives of 30 to 50
years and greater. In some heavily developed direct-use areas, major systems
have been in operation for many years. For example, the Boise Warm Springs
Water District system (a district heating system servicing some 240 residential
users) has been in continuous operation since 1892.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Under Ground-Source Heat Pump Systems, a new section (p.29.14-29.24),
the first paragraph under the Terminology subheading states (p.29.14):<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
The term ground-source heat pump
(GSHP) is applied to a variety of systems that use the ground, groundwater, and
surface water as a heat source and sink. Included under the general term are
ground-coupled (GCHP), groundwater (GWHP), and surface water (SWHP) heat pump
systems. Many parallel terms exist [e.g., geothermal heat pump (GHPs), earth
energy systems, and ground-source (GS) systems) and are used to meet a variety
of marketing or institutional needs.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The new GSHP heading includes new application guidance for
ground-coupled heat pump systems, local ground water temperatures, and
closed-loop-to-ground heat transfer sizing calculations for the non-steady-state
annual climate and heat pump system effects on a ground field for vertical,
horizontal, and spiral loop designs. Local geothermal gradient isn't an input
for these calculations (p.29.16-29.17).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Detailing examples of ASHRAE using "geothermal" to
describe ground source heat pumps in handbooks or other publications from 1996
through 2014 is beyond the scope of this project. The handbook revisions of the
"Geothermal Energy" and "Energy Resources" chapters retain
the errors added in 1991 and 1995. Further reading of the GSHP sections in the
"Geothermal Energy" chapter revisions over the decades reveals the societal
benefits ASHRAE and others have contributed through the expanded knowledge and
improvement of the design and installation of GSHPs, which are among the most
efficient, and lowest peak demand, all-electric, space heating and cooling
systems. Here are lists of the two sets of intervening chapters, grouped by
chapter.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
>><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ASHRAE
published a revision of "Geothermal Energy" as chapter 31 in the <u>1999
HVAC Applications</u> handbook, assigned to TC 6.8, Geothermal Energy
Utilization. The ground source heat pump heading expands (p.31.14-31.25).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
>><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ASHRAE
published a revision of "Geothermal Energy" as chapter 32 in the <u>2003
HVAC Applications</u> handbook, assigned to TC 6.8, Geothermal Energy
Utilization. The ground source heat pump heading expands (p.32.11-32.27).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
>><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ASHRAE
published a revision of "Geothermal Energy" as chapter 32 in the <u>2007
HVAC Applications</u> handbook, assigned to TC 6.8, Geothermal Energy
Utilization. The ground source heat pump heading expands (p.32.9-32.29).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
>><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ASHRAE
published a revision of "Geothermal Energy" as chapter 34 in the <u>2011
HVAC Applications</u> handbook, assigned to TC 6.8, Geothermal Energy
Utilization. The ground source heat pump heading expands (p.34.9-34.32).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
ASHRAE did not publish a revision of " Energy Resources
" in the <u>1999 HVAC Applications</u> handbook. A revision of the
"Thermal Storage" chapter is moved up to its place as chapter 33.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
>><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ASHRAE
published a revision of "Energy Resources" as chapter 17 in the <u>2001
Fundamentals</u> handbook, assigned to TC 1.10, Energy Resources, retaining the
fact 1 and fact 2 errors added in 1991 and 1995.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
>><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ASHRAE
published a revision of "Energy Resources" as chapter 17 in the <u>2005
Fundamentals</u> handbook, assigned to TC 2.8, Energy Resources, retaining the fact
1 and fact 2 errors added in 1991 and 1995.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
>><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ASHRAE
published a revision of "Energy Resources" as chapter 34 in the <u>2009
Fundamentals</u> handbook, assigned to TC 2.8, Energy Resources, retaining the fact
1 and fact 2 errors added in 1991 and 1995.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
>><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ASHRAE
published a revision of "Energy Resources" as chapter 34 in the <u>2013
Fundamentals</u> handbook, assigned to TC 2.8, Energy Resources, retaining the fact
1 and fact 2 errors added in 1991 and 1995.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
>><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ASHRAE
published a revision of "Geothermal Energy" as chapter 34 in the <u>2015
HVAC Applications</u> handbook, assigned to TC 6.8, Geothermal Energy
Utilization. The ground source heat pump heading expands (p.34.10-34.41).
Producing and delivering draft revisions to correct errors in this chapter and
the 2017 Composite Index were major tasks completed early in Energy-PE's
project to help ASHRAE publish a 2019 handbook describing ground source heat
pumps without false "geothermal" claims in either the
"Geothermal Energy" chapter or the 2019 Composite Index.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
>><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ASHRAE
published a revision of "Applied Heat Pump and Heat Recovery Systems"
as chapter 9 in the <u>2016 HVAC Systems and Equipment</u> handbook, assigned
to TC 6.8, Geothermal Heat Pump and Energy Recovery Applications. This revision
of the chapter uses "geothermal" in the text four times in the last
section, 3.4 Heat Pumps In District Heating And Cooling Systems.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
>><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ASHRAE
published a revision of "Energy Resources" as chapter 34 in the <u>2017
Fundamentals</u> handbook, assigned to TC 2.8, Building Environmental Impacts
and Sustainability, correcting decades of false claims ignoring fact 1 and fact
2. This revision removed “low-level geothermal energy (an energy source for
heat pumps)” as an energy resource form (p.34.1), removed “earth heat” as an
ambiguous synonym for geothermal energy (twice, p.34.2), “atmosphere or large
body of water” as a renewable resource energy resource used by heat pumps
(34.2), and removed "high-temperature" as qualifier for
"geothermal energy, which is not universally available, ..." (34.1).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
>><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ASHRAE Journal,
(p.16-27) published the article "Geothermal Conversion for Of a Commercial
Office" in its June 2017 issue describing a conversion from natural gas
boilers and furnaces with electric air source condensing units to all-electric
horizontal ground loop GSHP heating and cooling. The word "geothermal"
should not have been in this article, on the front cover of the Journal, or in
the Journal editor's glowing introduction to the article.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="page-break-after: avoid;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">How ASHRAE's technical errors
matter<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="page-break-after: avoid;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This report has described ASHRAE's important role in the
energy use of buildings. Since the 1980s ASHRAE has produced various technical
publications which use the word "geothermal" to describe the ground
source heat pump. From 1991 until 2017 ASHRAE's "Energy Resources"
chapter confused the low-temperature reservoirs of air and water source heat
pumps with useful nondepletable and renewable energy resources.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Describing GSHPs as "geothermal" confuses people. Confused
people repeat or create false claims about "geothermal" and GSHPs.
Because of ASHRAE's important role in energy it is likely its continued
repetition of false claims about GSHPs and "geothermal" reinforces this
confusion. DOE also spreads the false claim that GSHPs use geothermal and renewable
energy through its marketing and Energy Information Agency (EIA) reporting. For
example, here is how DOE answers its own FAQ question 3: <a href="https://www.energy.gov/eere/geothermal/geothermal-faqs#where_geothermal_energy_available">Where
Is Geothermal Energy Available?</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
Answer: Hydrothermal resources -
reservoirs of steam or hot water - are available primarily in the western
states, Alaska, and Hawaii. However, Earth energy can be tapped almost anywhere
with geothermal heat pumps ..."<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At the end of this webpage's false claim (which ignores fact
1) the words "heat pumps" link to DOE's "<a href="https://www.energy.gov/eere/geothermal/geothermal-heat-pumps">Geothermal
Heat Pumps</a>" webpage where DOE makes more two false claims (which ignore
fact 2):<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
"The benefit of ground source
heat pumps is they concentrate naturally existing heat, rather than by
producing heat through the combustion of fossil fuels."<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
"The geothermal heat pump
takes advantage of this by transferring heat stored in the earth or in ground
water into a building during the winter, ..."<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The heat pump is producing it temperature and heat with
electricity, not the naturally cold ground, and it almost certainly is using
electricity from fossil fuels. Heat is not stored in the ground, or anywhere. Thermal
energy is constantly flowing into, through, and out of the ground through diurnal
and annual changes in solar radiation, infrared radiation, convection, conduction,
precipitation, and evaporation. The GSHP uses electricity to extract energy
from the environment at a temperature which is unaffected by the geothermal power
flux. See also, "<a href="https://energype.blogspot.com/2017/11/the-false-claims-of-ground-source-heat.html">The
False Claims of Ground Source Heat Pumps</a>" for a report of EIA's false
claims about the direct use of geothermal energy. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Some buyers of GSHPs for existing buildings are switching
their fuel from direct use, for example fuel oil, to indirect fuel use of the grid
supplying their incremental electric heating load; some buyers are upgrading
from less efficient all-electric heating and cooling systems, and are
decremental loads from the grid. As long as there are fossil fuel generators
supplying electricity to the grid, any incremental electric load delays the
retirement of the worst one, and is responsible for that incremental fuel use,
and any decremental electric load hastens the retirement of the worst generator
and avoids that decremental fuel use. From an electric load perspective, a GSHP
can be either load building or load shaving for heating or cooling loads,
depending on an application's original and retrofitted system loads and the
energy resources used. Electric ground source heat pumps are not geothermal or
renewable. They are an all-electric heating and cooling load.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Using its thermal renewable energy certificate (REC) program,
<a href="http://groundenergysupport.com/wp/first-sale-geothermal-recs-new-hampshire/">New
Hampshire law takes money</a> from rate payers to purchase thermal RECs, credited
to GSHP owners for the low-temperature energy extracted from their backyards. The
Clean Energy States Alliance reports on New Hampshire and other states with
thermal REC programs, many of which include solar (New Hampshire is one) and
real geothermal, in "<a href="https://www.cesa.org/assets/Uploads/Renewable-Thermal-in-State-RPS-April-2015.pdf">Renewable
Thermal In State Renewable Portfolio Standards</a>," updated July 2018.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Other examples of the confusion and false claims made for
GSHPs are detailed in some project task descriptions below. ASHRAE's errors
matter because while making false claims from its position of authority, it is reinforcing
the confusion and other consequences from those false claims.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="page-break-after: avoid;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">My revisions in the 2017
Fundamentals handbook<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="page-break-after: avoid;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The "Energy Resources" chapter first edition, in
the <u>1991 HVAC Applications</u> handbook, was written by TC 4.8, Energy
Resources. Responsibility for revisions was assigned to TC 1.10, Energy
Resources, for the <u>1995 HVAC Applications</u> and <u>2001 Fundamentals</u>
handbooks. Responsibility changed to TC 2.8, Building Environmental Impacts and
Sustainability, for revisions in the <u>2005 Fundamentals</u>, <u>2009
Fundamentals</u>, and <u>2013 Fundamentals</u>. In June 2016 ASHRAE held its
annual conference in Saint Louis, Missouri, so my attendance didn't require
travel, only commuting.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I went to the handbook subcommittee meeting of TC 2.8 on June
26, 2016. This was the last in-real-life meeting before the deadline for the
final revision of the "Energy Resources" chapter for the <u>2017 Fundamentals</u>
handbook. I brought copies of the first three pages of the 2013 edition of the
chapter with lineouts and inserts removing “low-level geothermal energy (an
energy source for heat pumps)” as an energy resource form, “earth heat” as an
ambiguous synonym for geothermal energy, and “atmosphere or large body of
water” as a renewable energy resource used by heat pumps.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Two days later I attended the full committee meeting of TC 6.8,
Geothermal Heat Pump and Energy Recovery Applications. My notes of the handbook
subcommittee chair's report on the draft revision of the "Geothermal
Energy" chapter for the <u>2019 HVAC Applications</u> handbook are,
"moving GSHP to front of Chapter, Direct use pushed to back." I signed
in on the <a href="http://tc0608.ashraetcs.org/documents/meeting-information/TC0608%20StLouis%20Draft%20Minutes%20%2020160628v1.pdf">attendance
sheet</a> and didn't say anything.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I don't know what happened to my three pages of revisions I handed
to someone two days earlier at the TC 2.8 "Energy Resources" chapter subcommittee
meeting. I had also signed in on the attendance sheet there and initiated a
discussion of how the Earth is insulation and thermal mass and how geothermal
energy makes almost zero contribution to local ground temperature, which
depends on the climate. In August 2016 I was on the list of recipients of an
email to the subcommittee from the chair with a draft of the revised "Energy
Resources" chapter and a request for final review. My printed revisions
I'd left at the meeting weren't there so I edited the file and emailed it back.
In October 2016 I received another email from the subcommittee chair asking for
clarification on which revisions I'd added to the file. I replied to the email,
started a project for the accumulating work papers, and waited until June 1,
2017 when my brand new ASHRAE handbook arrived and all my recommended revisions
had been printed.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="page-break-after: avoid;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Energy-PE's project to help
ASHRAE avoid using "geothermal" to describe ground source heat pumps
in its 2019 HVAC Applications handbook<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Energy-PE, LLC, is my sole proprietor business founded about
three months after my retirement from Laclede Gas Company, the local natural
gas distribution utility in Saint Louis, Missouri (Laclede hired Energy-PE in
2013 to consolidate legacy rate calculation spreadsheets into a new spreadsheet
and that project was completed in 2014). Participation in ASHRAE committee
activities is by individuals who usually are there with some support from their
employer. Energy-PE did not reimburse travel expenses, but budgeted 100%
unbillable hours for this project.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Unlike my 2017 ASHRAE handbook project, this 2019 handbook project
has been a work project from the start, with a projected two year span. The
2017 handbook project started in 2016 with an email from the TC 2.8 handbook
subcommittee more than three months after I'd attended its meeting in Saint
Louis, while this 2019 project started in 2017 with my receipt of the 2017
handbook. The rest of this report is a chronology (dates in parentheses) of major
project tasks and some ancillary tasks:<br />
<ul>
<li>Received (June 1, 2017) 2017 Fundamentals.</li>
<li>Started (June 2, 2017) project folder for 2019 handbook.</li>
<li>Contacted (June 5-8, 2017) local energy professionals and discussed my project scope and immediate tasks to help ASHRAE. They agreed my first task was to email the chair of TC 6.8.</li>
<li>Emailed (June 8, 2017) TC 6.8 chair describing the revisions to "Energy Resources" chapter and their effect on the "Geothermal Energy" chapter revisions already underway for the 2019 handbook. A chronology of, and text similar or identical to, many of my communications with ASHRAE for this project are on Energy-PE's <a href="https://energy-pe.com/geothermal.htm">project webpage</a>.</li>
<li>Received (June 9, 2017) a response from TC 6.8 chair with cc: to the "Geothermal Resources" <span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">chapter subcommittee
chair starting with:</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
Thank you for your comments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The roughly one page introduction to
geothermal energy was (to my understanding) added in order to provide some
background about what is, and is not, to be addressed in the chapter. I have
not thoroughly reviewed the 2017 Handbook as I have not yet received my copy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
However, assuming the Energy
Resources adequately covers the same material, we can certainly look at simply
referencing that chapter and streamlining our chapter.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst">
<ul>
<li>Emailed (June 13, 2017) TC 1.3 chair about typo (p.4.3) in "Heat Transfer," chapter 4 in the 2017 Fundamentals. The equation for heat transfer rate from a hollow sphere, in Table 2, One-Dimensional Conduction Shape Factors, has a plus sign instead of a minus sign between the two radius terms in the denominator. ASHRAE <a href="https://www.ashrae.org/File%20Library/Technical%20Resources/ASHRAE%20Handbook/I-P_F17Additions.pdf">published</a> this correction in General Handbook Corrections - I-P Edition, July 20, 2017 ( p.A.1), "p. 4.3, Table 2, 1st equation for hollow sphere. In the denominator, change the + to a -."</li>
<li>Completed (June 23, 2017) my hand edited draft revisions of printed copies of 2015 "Geothermal Energy" chapter and 2017 "Composite Index." Emailed scans to the TC 6.8 chair and handbook subcommittee chair on that Friday morning before ASHRAE's annual meeting began in Long Beach, California. My transmittal email explained I would not be in Long Beach, but I'd be available by phone for both the upcoming Sunday handbook subcommittee and Tuesday full committee meetings. No one called or responded to this email.</li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Emailed (June 23, 2017) letter to the ASHRAE
Journal editor about false geothermal claims.</span></li>
<li><a href="https://energy-pe.com/eclipse.htm" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Observed</a><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
(August 21, 2017) a total eclipse of the Sun at Energy-PE world headquarters.</span></li>
<li>Having received no feedback from TC 6.8, I submitted
(August 26, 2017) a similar comment on ASHRAE's handbook comment <a href="http://xp20.ashrae.org/secure/handbook/handbook_comments/" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">webpage</a><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> and
received confirmation from ASHRAE's handbook manager, September 12, 2017.</span></li>
<li>Uploaded (September 7, 2017) the first edition
of Energy-PE's "Geothermal Energy" <a href="https://energy-pe.com/geothermal.htm" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">webpage</a><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> to provide easy access
to my comments and </span><a href="https://twitter.com/energy_pe/status/906003528879104000" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">tweeted</a><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> the
link. Reply emailed (September 13, 2017) to the ASHRAE handbook manager with the
link to this webpage and easy access to the scans of my draft revisions I'd
emailed the TC 6.8 chairs, since I had found no option to upload them with my
August 2016 online comment, which the handbook manager's email was
acknowledging.</span></li>
</ul>
At this point the project was idle, expecting responses from
TC 6.8. Since I'd already used Energy-PE's website for posting my revisions and
project status, I began using @energy_pe to search and troll Twitter for
"geothermal" which, as often as not, finds confusion about geothermal
energy and GSHPs. I also continued reviewing notes and references related to
the false claims of ground source heat pumps. The partial list of completed
project tasks continues:</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst">
<ul>
<li><a href="https://twitter.com/energy_pe/status/916009813179584512" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Replied</a><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
(October 5, 2017) to a tweet about proposals in Alberta to circulate water
through abandoned oil wells to provide space heating. I selected a quote from
the article to which it linked and plugged my own webpage:</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l8 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
"Banks draws a distinction
between ground source heat pumps in common use and true geothermal
energy."<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
#geothermal<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
http://energy-pe.com/geothermal.htm<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
On October 6, 2017 @_Geothermal_ <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>followed me Twitter. I don't know who or what
this is.<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="https://twitter.com/energy_pe/status/928833810459955201" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Replied</a><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
(November 9, 2017) to a tweet by the author of a citylab.com article "</span><a href="https://www.citylab.com/environment/2017/11/geothermal-suburbs/545354/" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Welcome
to the Steam-Powered Suburbs</a><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">." That headline appears under a photo of Hellisheidi
geothermal electric power plant in Iceland and the article describes planned
housing developments with GSHP systems</span><span style="font-size: 9pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">.</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On November 10, 2017 @GRC2001 followed me on Twitter. This
is the Geothermal Resources Council.<br />
<ul>
<li>Began (November 13, 2017) adding #NotGeothermal to
<a href="https://twitter.com/energy_pe/status/930240997782671360" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">tweets</a><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> where
its 15 characters could fit.</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Learned (November 17, 2017) and </span><a href="https://twitter.com/energy_pe/status/931612899822403584" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">tweeted</a><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
about Ginsberg's Theorem.</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Posted (November 22, 2017) "</span><a href="https://energype.blogspot.com/2017/11/the-false-claims-of-ground-source-heat.html" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">The
False Claims of Ground Source Heat Pumps</a><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">" based on notes, references,
expanded and updated research of EIA and other source data, new analysis
methods, and review of recent false claims.</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On December 1, 2017, the Geothermal Resources Council blogged
a link to my post, "<a href="https://energype.blogspot.com/2017/11/the-false-claims-of-ground-source-heat.html">The
False Claims of Ground Source Heat Pumps</a>" with this comment:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
In the following article a
professional engineer weighs in on the problem of differentiating between geothermal
energy and heat pump technologies. What do you think? Join the conversation in
the comments below.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
Ted Reinhart, Professional
Engineer, Energy-PE, LLC, University of Missouri-Columbia<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The GRC <a href="http://geothermalresourcescouncil.blogspot.com/2017/12/opinion-geothermal.html">post</a>
promoting my post was deleted by December 4, 2017 after I'd already posted (December
3, 2017) a thankful comment which also clarified " ... Neither myself nor
Energy-PE, LLC are affiliated with the University of Missouri-Columbia, other
than I received my M.S. degree there 30+ years ago."<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="https://twitter.com/ritesharya/status/937982858500689921" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Learned</a><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> (December
6, 2017) about geothermal climate science denial and </span><a href="https://twitter.com/energy_pe/status/947238516391542786" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">tweeted</a><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> (December
30, 2017) about it with a link to Skeptical Science's webpage, "</span><a href="https://www.skepticalscience.com/heatflow.html" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Heat from the Earth's
interior does not control climate</a><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">," by Andy Skuce, posted on September
17, 2011.</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Downloaded (January 18, 2018) TC 6.8 full
committee </span><a href="http://tc0608.ashraetcs.org/documents/meeting-information/TC0608%20Long%20Beach%20Final%20Minutes%2020170617.pdf" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">draft
minutes</a><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> from the June 2017 Long Beach ASHRAE meeting. Included in the
handbook subcommittee chair's report was the item "Ted Reinhart email on
term ‘geothermal’. We will crisp up our terminology, but not make the major
division that he suggests. [Chair] and [subcommittee chair] will make a reply
to Ted." Neither the "crisp up our terminology" nor the "reply
to Ted" tasks were completed.</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Quote-tweeted (January 18, 2018) Rupert Darwall's
geothermal climate science denial quote-tweet of a climate scientist after
seeing @_Geothermal_'s retweet of his trolling. I added it as a </span><a href="https://twitter.com/energy_pe/status/954143702791974917" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">reply</a><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
without comment to my earlier tweet about geothermal climate science denial.</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Travelled (January 21, 2018) to ASHRAE's 2018
winter conference in Chicago, Illinois, visited the ASHRAE bookstore, and attended
TC and PC meetings. The task requiring the trip was to participate in the TC 6.8
handbook subcommittee meeting and discuss my draft edits from June 2017. The
subcommittee chair participated by phone because of federal government shutdown
travel restrictions. I handed copies of my draft revisions from June 2017 to the
subcommittee member with a cell phone on speaker. The recollection of Chicago
meeting attendees, who had listened to discussion at the Long Beach meeting,
was that going ahead with my revisions would confuse people.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">No one in the room defended false claims that
the ground is at ambient temperature because of geothermal energy. No one in
the room defended false claims that ground source heat pumps extract useful
energy from the ground.</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Emailed (January 23, 2018) the TC 6.8 chair,
subcommittee chair, and two others whose email addresses I received at the
Sunday handbook meeting, with these two draft sentences to add to the end of
the 3.1 Terminology paragraph (p.34.10), "Geothermal energy has no effect
on local ground temperature or climate. A ground source heat pump uses neither
geothermal nor renewable energy unless the work used by the heat pump is from a
geothermal or renewable energy resource." I received no response.</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Received (February 5, 2018) neither a call during
the Tuesday, January 23, 2018 TC 6.8 full committee meeting nor a response to
my email sent just before the meeting, so I emailed the TC 6.8 chair requesting,
"a summary of any discussion, votes, or other actions relating to the
Geothermal Energy chapter which took place at the TC 6.8 meeting on Tuesday,
January 23, 2018 during the ASHRAE winter conference in Chicago. If draft
minutes are available for either the subcommittee or committee meetings, please
send those. Also, please arrange for me to have read access to the online draft
of the geothermal energy chapter so I can review changes being proposed for the
2019 HVAC Applications handbook." The TC 6.8 chair replied February 6,
2018, "Ted, You will receive the information sent to the full TC."</span></li>
<li><a href="https://twitter.com/energy_pe/status/960947060089540608" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Replied</a><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
(February 6, 2018) to my own tweet with a link to Rupert's </span><a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/rupert-darwall" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">desmogblog.com profile</a><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">, and
noting that Rupert's geothermal climate science denial is usually marginalized,
even by climate science deniers. Rupert hit my bait.</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Emailed (February 7, 2018) the TC 6.8 handbook
subcommittee chair asking for access to the latest draft revision of the
"Geothermal Energy" chapter, which they sent as a word document. It
still used "geothermal" to describe GSHPs in all the same places. I
notified (February 8, 2018) the subcommittee chair that the errors I'd
identified in June 2017 were still there. The subcommittee chair's reply:</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
I chose not to change the
terminology after our TC voted “no” to changing the words at the June 2017 Long
Beach CA ASHRAE conference. There were many changes for me to manage for
the handbook, and many “last minute” change requests that occupied a lot of my time.
Changing the terminology requires more TC support than I had, and more time
than I had. I understand your frustration with the process and the time
it takes to resolve the issue, but it’s just not something I can address at
this time. I will pass the information and your suggested changes on to the
next chapter chair.<o:p></o:p></div>
<ul>
<li>Posted (February 11, 2018) "<a href="https://energype.blogspot.com/2018/02/order-of-magnitude-fish-story.html">Order of Magnitude, A Fish Story</a>" about Rupert Darwall's geothermal climate science denial.</li>
<li><a href="https://twitter.com/energy_pe/status/963254761196793856" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Tweeted</a><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
(February 12, 2018) "Geothermal is like the Clarence Beeks of ground
source heat pumps (GSHPs not F.C.O.J.), who then tried to do climate denial
too. GSHPs are #NotGeothermal. F.C.O.J is frozen concentrated orange
juice." It's a reference to the movie "Trading Places" in which
Clarence Beeks is an overly-confident hoodlum hired by the Dukes.</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Found (February 20, 2018) an @Advanced_Energy
tweet after @_Geothermal_ made a similar tweet including a link to and graphic
from an Advanced Energy Center Blog post "</span><a href="https://you.stonybrook.edu/aecblog/2018/02/16/a-closer-look-at-geothermal-systems/" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">A
Closer Look at Geothermal Systems</a><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">" about Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s
GSHP system. The blog post's false claims about the system ignore fact 1 and
fact 2, for example:</span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
As geothermal capacity expands in the United States to meet increasing
demand for renewables, we examine the impact of these installations through the
example of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden in New York. While much of the nation’s
geothermal capacity is located on the west coast, this infographic highlights
the exciting possibilities of geothermal in a dense urban environment.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<ul>
<li>I <a href="https://twitter.com/energy_pe/status/966089559342833664">replied</a> (February
20, 2018) to the @Advanced_Energy tweet:</li>
</ul>
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
The @bklynbotanic 60 ton heating and cooling system described is a ground
source heat pump system. It uses neither geothermal nor renewable energy unless
its electric power is from geothermal or renewable generation resources.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
#NotGeothermal #NotRenewable<o:p></o:p></div>
<ul>
<li>Reviewed (February 23, 2018) the <a href="https://aertc.org/aec2018/">AEC2018</a> <a href="https://aertc.org/aec2018/assets/AEC2018-Agenda-3-22-18.pdf">program</a>, the last agenda item is "Heat Pumps: Utilities, Emerging Business Models and Enabling R&D." </li>
<li><a href="https://twitter.com/energy_pe/status/969308830004891649">Tweeted</a> (March 1, 2018) criticism of the false claims in CBS News article "<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/geothermal-energy-is-slowly-gaining-steam-in-homes/">Geothermal heat is slowly gaining steam in homes</a>," 7 tweets.</li>
<li><a href="https://twitter.com/energy_pe/status/969363723545694209">Tweeted</a> (March 1-2, 2018) about the Earth's geothermal power and showed how small it is. Followed up with a tweet about the internal energy of Jupiter's moon Europa and how the surface flux from Europa's internal power source does effect its surface temperature.</li>
<li><a href="https://twitter.com/energy_pe/status/970827224764084224">Reply tweeted</a> (March 5, 2018) to a tweet by <a href="https://rev.ny.gov/">Reforming the Energy Vision</a>, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo’s comprehensive energy strategy for New York (@Rev4NY):</li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
The #Geothermal Clean Energy
Challenge is a $3.8M initiative to encourage ground-source #HeatPump systems in
government buildings, healthcare facilities & schools across NY. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
Successful applicants will receive
free analysis & unlock access to funding http://on.ny.gov/2nxxZ7Q"<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
The tweet had an <a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DXjutT3W4AAHFXA.jpg">image</a> including
NYDERDA's logo, a home with a GSHP, heading text "In The Wintertime,"
and body text "The earth is warmer than your home, so heat from the ground
is transferred to the house through the water pipe system to warm you up"
a false claim ignoring fact 2. <o:p></o:p></div>
<ul>
<li>Started (March 6, 2018) a tweet folder for Dandelion.</li>
<li><a href="https://twitter.com/energy_pe/status/971042706456752129">Tweeted</a> (March 6, 2018) about my hashtags. #NotGeothermal #NotRenewable #NotUtilityIndependent #NotSteam #NotLikeAPowerPlant #TotallyElectric (turns out this one was already popular) #TheEarthIsNotWarmerThanYourHome #NotACauseOfGlobalWarming.</li>
<li><a href="https://twitter.com/energy_pe/status/971859525862125574">Trolled</a> (March 6, 2018) the Union of Concerned Scientists by tweeting a link to its geothermal <a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/our-energy-choices/renewable-energy/how-geothermal-energy-works.html">webpage</a> and then mockingly quoting some text from the UCS's first paragraph by writing "Ground source heat pumps don't use geothermal energy because it's not 'the dirt in our backyards,' ..." Here's the first paragraph of, "How Geothermal Energy Works":</li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
Heat from the earth can be used as
an energy source in many ways, from large and complex power stations to small
and relatively simple pumping systems. This heat energy, known as geothermal
energy, can be found almost anywhere—as far away as remote deep wells in Indonesia
and as close as the dirt in our backyards.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
The scientists' webpage ignores
fact 1 and fact 2. I went on and on with four replies to myself.<o:p></o:p></div>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://twitter.com/energy_pe/status/971092893371842560">Replied</a> (March 6, 2018) to a tweet linking to a greentechmedia.com <a href="https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/former-alphabet-x-start-up-dandelion-acquires-geo-connections">article</a> about Dandelion with the comment "Curious to see where Dandelion goes with making direct use #geothermal more accessible in residential applications." My reply said: "@DandelionEnergy is marketing ground source heat pumps and this acquisition will have no impact on direct use of geothermal energy. The Sun and atmospheric infrared radiation maintain local ground temperatures. Geothermal energy is 1000+ times smaller." This got helpful replies from the original tweeter who seems to have learned geology in college. I was last taught geology in elementary school.</li>
<li>Created (May 8, 2018) @NotGeothermal twitter account to avoid cluttering @energy_pe with #NotGeothermal after this project. While looking for a profile page banner image, I found @ENERGY's "Get Current" <a href="https://www1.eere.energy.gov/education/pdfs/coloringbook_2014.pdf">coloring book</a> which makes the false claim "GEOTHERMAL We can use energy from the earth to heat and cool our homes" (p.7) for a drawing of a home with a ground loop and a chimney, in an all-electric coloring book. I have a difficult time understanding how people could become more confused than that, as TC 6.8 claims would happen if ASHRAE corrects its own technical errors with its 2019 HVAC Applications handbook edition.</li>
<li><a href="https://twitter.com/energy_pe/status/994329282695573507">Tweeted</a> (May 9, 2018) about 200th anniversary of industrial geothermal use in Larderello, Italy.</li>
<li><a href="https://twitter.com/energy_pe/status/1001903042290180097">Replied</a> (May 30, 2018) to a tweet linking to a Bloomberg.com <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-30/alphabet-startup-will-heat-your-home-from-a-hole-in-the-ground">article</a> about Dandelion with the comment "The #geothermal industry spans a wide spectrum from deep electricity generation to residential heat pumps like Dandelion and all have an important part in our energy future." My reply said:</li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
Ground source heat pumps don't use
geothermal energy. "Geothermal heat pump" is a lie.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
1. The local ambient ground
temperature of a heat pump field is climate dependent. It is #NotGeothermal<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
2. Heat pumps are not heat
engines. Heat pump reservoirs are not useful energy resources.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
This got a reply from the original
tweeter, which lead to another. Bob Wyman of Dandelion jumped in and replied to
my reply twice, <a href="https://twitter.com/bobwyman/status/1002268250389057536">for example</a>:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
The US government calls these
things "geothermal heat pumps." While those in the industry are well
aware that they are more solar thermal than geothermal, we gave up on fighting
the name game to focus on more important problems like deployment.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
"While those in the industry
are well aware that they are more solar thermal than geothermal ..." is
sort of understanding fact 1 while ignoring fact 2.<o:p></o:p></div>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://twitter.com/energy_pe/status/1002591545135116288">Tweeted</a> (June 1, 2018) the cat and refrigerator model of heat pumps, 3 tweets, which includes a <a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Denp6rKVMAAANE3.jpg">screenshot</a> of Bob's reply, my response, and Bob's <a href="https://twitter.com/bobwyman/status/1002377477988155392">last reply</a> of that subthread. I paraphrased what Bob's two replies together say to me: "those in the industry are well aware that many consider ambient ground temperature to be partly of geothermal origin."</li>
<li><a href="https://twitter.com/energy_pe/status/1010303448523395076">Replied</a> (June 22, 2018) to a tweet linking to a Treehugger <a href="https://www.treehugger.com/clean-technology/4-reasons-why-heat-pumps-are-not-going-save-planet.html">article</a> "Many smart people are saying Electrify Everything! I wonder if instead of the fancy heat pumps and tech we should Reduce Demand!" Here's my <a href="https://twitter.com/energy_pe/status/1010303448523395076">reply</a> which included a quote tweet of my June 1 <a href="https://twitter.com/energy_pe/status/1002591545135116288">tweet</a>:</li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
Great article. I had a recent
exchange with @bobwyman of @DandelionEnergy. I was surprised by his candor that
most people making money repeating this lie know they are lying, but only lie
because @ENERGY makes them. I hear the same excuse from #MyASHRAE.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
Bob Wyman replied with "You
lie ..." June 24, 2018. I replied with a question about the depth of
Dandelion's ground loops, then added a reply to myself since Bob didn't.<o:p></o:p></div>
<ul>
<li>Emailed (June 24, 2018) the TC 6.8 chair and handbook subcommittee chair after not receiving a call during the "Geothermal Energy" chapter subcommittee meeting at the June 2018 annual conference in Houston, Texas. I asked if there had been any committee communications since February, as I had received none, and I asked the TC 6.8 chair to call me during the handbook subcommittee chair's report at the full committee meeting. The chair replied that my request was unreasonable and I wouldn't be called. My next reply (June 26, 2018) included the following text and I asked the chair to read my full reply at the meeting:</li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
... A year ago, the 2017 Fundamentals
handbook corrected the lies which were in the original Energy Resources chapter
in the 1991 Applications handbook. The 2019 Geothermal Energy chapter revision
is TC 6.08's opportunity to fix the lies added to the Geothermal Energy chapter
in 1995. The term "geothermal heat pump" is a lie to confuse
potential customers into thinking they will be using renewable energy
resources. ASHRAE will not be confusing people by correcting this, it will be
sharing its superior knowledge. ASHRAE will be knowingly repeating a lie if it
publishes this again in 2019. Claiming the U.S. Department of Energy made it
lie does not sound like a very good defense.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
The chair's reply began, "Your
tone and accusations are inappropriate and unappreciated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My assumptions were that you were signing up
as a corresponding member to be engaged with the committee. Your comments were
discussed during the subcommittee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
have stated to you that I work and communicate through those who engage through
the appropriate channels. ..." I <a href="https://twitter.com/energy_pe/status/1011652099556495360">tweeted</a> about
this reply ahead of the full TC 6.8 meeting in Houston, "I emailed this
message to the chair ... I don't think he is going to read it. #MyASHRAE"
with a <a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DgobB7RU8AAD5Qj.jpg">screenshot</a>
of part of my email to the chair.<o:p></o:p></div>
<ul>
<li>Researched (June 26, 2018) thermal renewable energy certificates ("<a href="https://www.cesa.org/assets/Uploads/Renewable-Thermal-in-State-RPS-April-2015.pdf">Renewable Thermal In State Renewable Portfolio Standards</a>," Clean Energy States Alliance). I <a href="https://twitter.com/energy_pe/status/1011814727343902721">tweeted twice</a> about the New Hampshire scheme. GSHP owners there are getting more thermal RECs for chilling their backyards than they would need to purchase solar or wind RECs for the electricity powering their heat pump. A comprehensive review of thermal RECs for GSHPs was beyond the scope of this project.</li>
<li>Researched (June 28, 2018) <a href="https://www.worldenergy.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/WEResources_Geothermal_2016.pdf">the direct use of geothermal energy in Sweden</a> ("World Energy Resources Geothermal 2016," World Energy Council, p.46), because it had been mentioned in the CBSNews article "Geothermal heat is slowly gaining steam in homes." It turns out <a href="https://www.worldenergy.org/data/resources/country/sweden/geothermal/">Sweden's direct use of geothermal energy</a> is <a href="https://pangea.stanford.edu/ERE/db/WGC/papers/WGC/2015/01021.pdf">almost all GSHPs</a>, and I <a href="https://twitter.com/energy_pe/status/1012366866122264577">tweeted</a> about it, 5 tweets. A comprehensive review of false claims about GSHPs in other countries was beyond the scope of this project.</li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The <u>2019 HVAC Applications</u> handbook is scheduled to
be published and available in the ASHRAE <a href="https://www.techstreet.com/ashrae/ashrae_handbook.html">Bookstore</a> beginning
in June 2019. The scope of this project was helping ASHRAE correct its false
claims about geothermal energy and heat pumps with its revision of the "Geothermal
Energy" chapter from the <u>2015 HVAC Applications</u> handbook.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
October 14, 2018<br />
Saint Louis, Missouri</div>
Ted Reinharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02316965987474987344noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6226310258708514698.post-27552083177472194072018-02-11T19:39:00.000-08:002018-10-16T14:11:43.094-07:00Order of Magnitude (A Fish Story)I am some kind of kooky obsessive about geothermal energy. It comes from over twenty years of experience explaining the chronic <a href="https://energype.blogspot.com/2017/11/the-false-claims-of-ground-source-heat.html">false claims of ground source heat pumps</a> by the U.S. Department of Energy and others.<br />
<br />
Sometime in November-December 2017 I learned climate science untruthers have repeated the untruth that geothermal energy (or any "recent" or local natural variations in geothermal energy) could be contributing to the stipulated warming of the Earth. I read two webpages at Skeptical Science (<a href="https://www.skepticalscience.com/heatflow.html" target="_blank">https://www.skepticalscience.com/heatflow.html</a> and <a href="https://skepticalscience.com/underground-temperatures-control-climate.htm" target="_blank">https://skepticalscience.com/underground-temperatures-control-climate.htm</a>). Both pages easily debunk the untruth (they term it a "myth") and both link to a website which mentioned the "massive heat inside the Earth" in November 2011 (after the dates on the September 2011 Skeptical Science webpages) and included it with the following nonsense. As a bonus it says it might have started with nuclear tests.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
... There are other possible causes which could be associated with 2,000 underground nuclear tests (causing damage to the crust which allowed more heat to escape from the liquid core of the Earth) or related to small variations in the temperature of the core itself, which is about 5,400 degrees C. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
In regard to the latter possibility, we don't need a high heat flow - just a high temperature for the core to affect the surface climate. There is massive heat inside the Earth and, as it escapes, the temperature falls along a continuous trend which passes through the surface and atmosphere until it reaches space. Physics tells us that the average gradient of the trend is determined by the temperatures at each end, namely that in the core and that in space. Thus the temperature at the surface is locked in by the temperatures in the core and in space. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
This may help you to understand the process: even just 100 metres underground the temperature is very stable over the course of hundreds of years. As you come closer to the surface you will observe slight variations between summer and winter, but not much. Of course you will see daily variations just a few centimetres down, but, overall, the stable temperatures underground (which have been established over billions of years primarily as a result of heat generated underground) will tend to control climate. You can draw an analogy with a small glass of water in a large air-conditioned room. The temperature of the water (representing the oceans and land surfaces) will be controlled by that of the air which represents the far greater thermal energy in the rest of the Earth under the surface. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
(<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20111109000617/http://climate-change-theory.com/" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20111109000617/http://climate-change-theory.com/</a>)</blockquote>
The true effect of geothermal energy on the temperature of the surface of the Earth has been published for about 200 years. Joseph Fourier described it this way in 1824, when he wrote his paper "to invite attention to one of the most important questions of natural philosophy, and to present general views and results."<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
In a globe of iron the increase of a thirtieth of a degree per metre, would only give a fourth degree of actual elevation of temperature at the surface. This elevation is in direct ratio to the conducting power of the substance of which the crust is formed, all other conditions remaining the same. Thus the excess of temperature, which the terrestrial surface has at present, in consequence of this internal source, is very small; it is probably below the thirtieth of a centesimal degree, (1/15° Fahrenheit.) We ought to remark that this last result can be applied to all suppostions which can be made upon the cause, whether it be regarded as local or universal, constant or variable. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
(<a href="http://nsdl.library.cornell.edu/websites/wiki/index.php/PALE_ClassicArticles/GlobalWarming/Article1.html" target="_blank">http://nsdl.library.cornell.edu/websites/wiki/index.php/PALE_ClassicArticles/GlobalWarming/Article1.html</a>)</blockquote>
By the end of December I hadn't found any geothermal climate science untruths other than reported by Skeptical Science in 2011, so I tweeted this:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg43Wxw15-FFtEwh-Dgijp0rJJE99UqXmUztq9UDke3oFpXovyMG3OcG9yqTZJVskVxv6mW-vOe_3nDtggkTczEQUq9vN03b43pZh09D0s3VRLr2sND2-KiDMugWETJYtjS2NguFIyqAOY/s1600/OOMs1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="422" height="303" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg43Wxw15-FFtEwh-Dgijp0rJJE99UqXmUztq9UDke3oFpXovyMG3OcG9yqTZJVskVxv6mW-vOe_3nDtggkTczEQUq9vN03b43pZh09D0s3VRLr2sND2-KiDMugWETJYtjS2NguFIyqAOY/s320/OOMs1.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://twitter.com/energy_pe/status/947238516391542786">https://twitter.com/energy_pe/status/947238516391542786</a><br />
<br /></div>
Then, on 2018-01-18 @_Geothermal_ retweeted this:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I replied to myself, quote-tweeting Rupert Darwall's quote-tweet of a climate scientist. Then on 2018-02-06 I came across a tweet linking to another climate untruther's profile on <a href="http://desmogblog.com/" target="_blank">desmogblog.com</a> and remembered to find Rupert Darwall there. I replied to myself, quote-tweeting him again, tagging @DeSmogBlog, tagging the climate scientist he'd trolled, and comparing him to Doug Cotton (responsible for the http://www.climate-change-theory.com nonsense I quoted above). I also replied to my new reply with a link to <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/rupert-darwall" target="_blank">Rupert's desmogblog.com profile</a>. A couple of hours went by, and then he nibbled at my bait:<br />
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<a href="https://twitter.com/RupertDarwall/status/960977641569439747">https://twitter.com/RupertDarwall/status/960977641569439747</a></div>
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I "liked" his reply, took screenshots in case he deleted them, and made him wait while I worked on a reply I didn't think I'd need. Rupert Darwall is a twitter fish who is two orders of magnitude bigger than me but I knew he was an untruther and was screaming a fringe untruth to his followers. I wondered if I cast the same geothermal lure he'd be enough of a dunce to hit it harder, not knowing my bait was 100% rock and metal. I gave him a chance to walk it back, writing him the truth, giving him a link to the 1837 translation of Joseph Fourier's 1824 paper, and dropping his climate scientist target from the conversation. He typed, "You're being obtuse." I replied, "Where was the word 'geothermal' left out, Rupert?" and again quote-tweeted his creepy 2018-01-18 quote-tweet of the climate scientist's tweet. He replied, "google my CEI paper," getting my hook in his mouth a little bit.<br />
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I found <a href="https://cei.org/content/stoking-climate-action" target="_blank">his paper</a> and his writing under the heading "West Antarctic Meltdown" made me throw up in my mouth a little bit. He'd referenced some interesting articles he didn't seem to comprehend. I replied with one example of how he'd confused ice shelf with ice sheet, tagging the authors and publishers he'd quoted. I again asked him if he thought geothermal energy affects climate. He replied by changing the subject and asking what I thought caused the "blowtorch" quoted in a New York Times article he'd used. Had I set the hook? I replied, "No one knows," and asked him again where 'geothermal" was left out of the climate scientist's tweet. I left my rock and metal hook dangling in the water and ran errands.<br />
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While I was gone, Rupert replied asking a vague question about geothermal energy. My hook was set and I wasn't watching! Fortunately, Justin Gillis, who'd written the New York Times article <a href="https://cei.org/content/stoking-climate-action" target="_blank">Rupert had used in his CEI paper</a>, saw my line moving in the water and cast his own reply. I liked his reply not only because he's a better fisher than me; the bonus was he immediately invoked ORDER OF MAGNITUDE which I can't do without pushing my glasses up the bridge of my nose. Does Rupert Darwall understand orders of magnitude? It doesn't matter. He swallowed my rock and metal hook and rudely engaged Justin Gillis after he'd been kind enough to point out Rupert was off by at least an order of magnitude:<br />
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<a href="https://twitter.com/RupertDarwall/status/961700987273732096">https://twitter.com/RupertDarwall/status/961700987273732096</a><br />
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If you scroll down the replies, you'll see how Mr. Gillis watched Rupert swallow more hooks, then netted him, and tossed him on the dock. Then he asked Dr. Eric Steig if he had time to demonstrate his practiced technique for quickly cleaning geothermal zombie fish. He did, and he did. Some say this was his most fundamental tweet of the thread:<br />
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<a href="https://twitter.com/ericsteig/status/961944264862179329">https://twitter.com/ericsteig/status/961944264862179329</a><br />
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Thanks to logarithms, the order of magnitude of energy is easily estimated by summing the order of magnitude of power and the order of magnitude of time.<br />
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<a href="https://twitter.com/RupertDarwall/status/961965394008428545">https://twitter.com/RupertDarwall/status/961965394008428545</a><br />
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I took the opportunity to write this up for you, Rupert. No plan really, just fishing.</div>
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Ted Reinharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02316965987474987344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6226310258708514698.post-8152319409166889132017-11-22T12:37:00.001-08:002018-10-16T14:14:27.941-07:00The False Claims of Ground Source Heat Pumps<br />
In 2010 I emailed an employee of a Midwestern state energy agency, following a public conference call about a state energy-efficiency spending plan, which the employee helped present,<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I want to follow up on my concern about referring to ground source heat pumps (GSHP) as "geothermal." This term has been incorrectly applied to GSHPs since the 1990s. The term is extremely misleading and at least some people who use it actually believe that is makes use of the renewable geothermal energy resource in the earth, which it does not. I'm was particularly concerned when I thought I heard you say on the call that [state agency] plans to report on renewable energy recovered through its agricultural GSHP program. I hope I misunderstood. GSHPs are the most efficient electric heating technology. They do not use renewable energy unless they use electricity generated from renewable resources.</blockquote>
I made a couple of typos, but I think the state employee's reply has a couple of non sequiturs,<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Ted, I don't think we are reporting geo as an alternative;<br />
However, common nomenclature claims ground source as "geo". </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
change is like trying to rename Kleenex.</blockquote>
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<b><u>False Claim: Ground Source Heat Pumps Use Geothermal Energy</u></b><br />
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The first non sequitur changed the subject from geothermal to "geo." "Geo-" means earth and the ground is part of the Earth; using "geo-" with ground source heat pumps is not the issue. It's the "-thermal" part of "geothermal heat pump" that's the issue, which the employee did not type. Maybe they were in a hurry, unaware "-thermal" is a false claim, or wanted to defend it without typing it. The reason also can be "willfully unaware," as I was following up on a comment I made during the call when state employees used the term "geothermal heat pump." I explained how it was misleading and why they needed to stop using it. The reply also avoided the words I wrote concerning another false claim made on the call, that ground source heat pumps provide "recovered" renewable energy, instead "thinking" they aren't reported as "alternative." After I discuss the second non sequitur, I'll show how energy at ambient temperatures, transferred from the ground by cooler heat pump evaporators, is regularly updated and reported as consumption of renewable energy, alongside hydroelectric, solar, wind, and others in Section 10, Renewable Energy, of the U.S. Energy Information Agency (EIA) Monthly Energy Review.<br />
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When I read the state employee's email I thought, "Nobody ever tried to rename Kleenex, but probably not the meaning they intended. They probably think of geothermal as a brand, like Kleenex." The word geothermal originated in the 1870s. Scientific knowledge of the nature of the geothermal gradient and its resources increased and geothermal is the word used to describe the outward flow of thermal power from the interior of the Earth. Like solar and tidal, it's the adjective for a unique, natural power source, it's not a trademark that got confused with generic substitutes so it now includes local average ambient temperature. I understood the meaning of their last two lines as, "I don't know what geothermal means, nobody knows what geothermal means, the cat's out of the bag and all facial tissues are Kleenex to everybody." Then I wrote,<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Kleenex is a brand of facial tissue paper, which marketing convinced people to use in place of washable, cloth handkerchiefs while also, through poor trademark protection, make it synonymous with facial tissue paper in general. Your analogy would be more apt if people began calling all geysers Old Faithful, or even all geothermal features Old Faithful. Geothermal is the facial tissue paper in your Kleenex analogy. It's a generic definition for a thing, not the specific name for one of the many global features of this natural phenomenon.</blockquote>
This was worse than my original email since I gave an unqualified legal opinion about trademark protection, another typo, and then I denigrated the aptness of his simile, which I called an analogy. My attempt to explain why I thought the state employee was wrong also hasn't aged well for me because I've since seen the first geyser known to modern Europeans, located in Iceland and named Geysir. Its name became the English word "geyser" for all similar hydrothermal features, including Old Faithful. It became the Kleenex of geysers, or Kleenex became the Geysir of paper facial tissue since Geysir's name was borrowed before paper facial tissue existed. Either way, since I couldn't find the email thread until recently, I had developed another analogy where ground source heat pumps are paper facial tissue.<br />
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<ul>
<li>ground source heat pump = paper facial tissue</li>
<li>WaterFurnace® = Kleenex®</li>
<li>geothermal power systems = cloth handkerchief</li>
<li>geothermal heat pump = cloth paper facial tissue</li>
</ul>
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The terms "geothermal heat pump" and "cloth paper facial tissue" are each an oxymoron, like "stored heat." While geothermal power systems and ground source heat pump systems both touch the Earth, only geothermal power systems are designed to touch ground temperatures that can do useful work. Kleenex and handkerchiefs both touch noses, but only handkerchiefs can be renewed by the work of washing. My analogy might work better if one cloth handkerchief were worn out for every 4800 paper facial tissues since 1:4800 is the ratio of geothermal power (0.082 W/m^2) to infrared power (398 W/m^2) emitted by the Earth's surface. Geothermal power does not maintain the temperature of the ground, which is the source/sink of ground source heat pumps, the Sun and the atmosphere do.<br />
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<u><b>False Claim: Ground Source Heat Pumps Use Renewable Energy</b></u><br />
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The U.S. EIA regularly reports on renewable energy production and consumption in Section 10 of its Monthly Energy Review. Table 10.1 is titled, "Renewable Energy Production and Consumption by Source (Trillion Btu)." Footnote "a" describing Production begins, "For hydroelectric power, geothermal, solar, wind, and biomass waste, production equals consumption." Geothermal Consumption is described by footnote "f" as "Geothermal electricity net generation (converted to Btu by multiplying by the total fossil fuels heat rate factors in Table A6), and geothermal heat pump and direct use energy."<br />
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The renewable geothermal energy consumption column from Table 10.1 is the top (blue) line in the following chart legend, and is the sum of consumption by the residential, commercial, industrial, and electric power sectors reported in Tables 10.2a, 10.2b, and 10.2c. The electric power sector geothermal consumption data, Table 10.2c, the second (teal) line, is equal to the product of the geothermal data in Table 7.2b, "Electricity Net Generation: Electric Power Sector (Million Kilowatthours)" and the total fossil fuels heat rate factors in Table A6 (BTU/kWh), divided by 1,000,000 to convert to trillion BTU.<br />
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The third (red) and fourth (tan) lines in the chart legend are California geothermal electric generation statistics. Increases in geothermal electric power production in other states have offset recent decreases in California. The third line uses a constant heat rate and the fourth line uses Table A6 heat rates to convert Gigawatthours to trillion BTU.</div>
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The fifth (grey) line, the difference between the total geothermal consumption (Table 10.1, blue) and the electric power sector geothermal consumption (Table 10.2c, teal), is the sum of the geothermal energy consumption by the residential, commercial, and industrial sectors (Tables 10.2a & 10.2b), which are plotted individually as the last three solid lines in the chart legend (maroon, olive, & blue).</div>
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The dashed lines in the chart are data from Table 4.17, "Geothermal energy consumption by direct use of energy and from heat pumps, 1990-2009 (quadrillion Btu)" from the Renewable Energy Annual 2009 (REA), published January 2012, the last edition of this discontinued EIA report. The total geothermal energy consumption reported (dark grey dashed) is equal to the sum of the geothermal energy consumption from the residential, commercial, and industrial sectors reported in Tables 10.2a and 10.2b. The green dashed line is "geothermal consumption from heat pumps;" the red dashed line is "geothermal consumption by direct use of energy."</div>
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In the same section of the REA, Table 4.11 reports manufacturers' shipments of ground source heat pumps in 2009 totaled 338,689 rated capacity in tons. From Table 4.17, the increase from 2008 to 2009 of "geothermal consumption from heat pumps" is 0.0085 quadrillion BTU. Assuming a heat extraction rate of 10,000 BTU per ton, those new heat pumps would need about 2500 full load heating hours to cool the ground by 8.5 trillion BTU. The EIA Monthly Energy Review sources for the data in Tables 10.2a & 10.2b are similar, "1989–2011: Annual estimates by EIA based on data from Oregon Institute of Technology, Geo-Heat Center. 2012 forward: Annual estimates assumed by EIA to be equal to that of 2011," excepting the last year of Geo-Heat Center data for the industrial sector is 2009, rather than 2011 as it is for the residential and commercial sectors.</div>
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The "geothermal consumption from heat pumps" reported in the REA, from the Geo-Heat Center, is an estimate of the heat extracted from the ground by the population of installed ground source heat pumps during the heating season. This is a false claim, repeated regularly by the EIA as consumption of renewable geothermal energy in its Monthly Energy Review.</div>
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Some interesting consequences of this false claim:</div>
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<ul>
<li>After annual updates of Table 4.17 "geothermal consumption from heat pumps" ended around 2010, the EIA assumed annual "geothermal consumption" by direct use and from heat pumps would remain constant thereafter. One impossible explanation for this is that ground source heat pumps manufactured since about 2010 are using the ground only as a heat source/sink while older ground source heat pumps continue to find renewable geothermal energy with their ground loops, as reported in the EIA Monthly Energy Review.</li>
<li>The geothermal energy accounting scheme used by EIA for ground source heat pumps does not account for the heat rejected to the ground when the heat pumps are in cooling mode.</li>
<li>If the growth of "geothermal consumption from heat pumps" from Table 4.17 had not stopped in 2011, it might now exceed the geothermal consumption by the electric power sector in Table 10.2c.</li>
</ul>
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Grade school children are taught about the potential energy resources consumed by our built environment; fossil fuels, hydroelectric, nuclear, solar, geothermal, and others, and they are taught, "energy is the ability to do work." When they get to high school physics they learn, "energy can be neither created nor destroyed," the first law of thermodynamics, and they learn not all energy can do work, the second law of thermodynamics. The only useful work done by the ambient, climate dependent temperature of the ground is heating the cooler atmosphere. The surface of the Earth is a high temperature reservoir relative to the average temperature of the atmosphere, but it is a low temperature reservoir relative to our winter indoor environment. Most people who call ground source heat pumps "geothermal heat pumps" or claim GSHPs use geothermal or renewable energy don't have a basic understanding of thermodynamics or the geothermal nature of the Earth, but those that do understand know they are lying.</div>
Ted Reinharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02316965987474987344noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6226310258708514698.post-54622071108923790202015-01-12T20:42:00.001-08:002018-10-16T14:12:06.753-07:00Taking public transit to the January ASHRAE meetingI paid $3 to take three buses and one light rail to my meeting today. I was lucky a bus route went right past the banquet center, I only had to walk about 100 yards after I stepped off the last bus. I took Metrobus 56 to Shrewsbury station, Metrolink to Brentwood I-64 station, Metrobus 57X to Ballas transfer center, and Metrobus 98 to 1970 Craig. The total trip from Energy-PE, LLC world headquarters to Spazio's banquet center took about one-and-one-half hours. Nice that it was mostly sunny and not very cold. The Ballas transfer center has a small electricity-heated building in which to wait, with drinking fountains. Metro's equipment is always clean, but the bus stops seem really far apart.Ted Reinharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02316965987474987344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6226310258708514698.post-26142681172166273712014-03-26T19:29:00.001-07:002018-10-16T14:13:07.917-07:00A Geothermal ExperienceWe spent the night of 2014-03-22 at the Springs Hotel in Hot Springs, AR, on our way home from Fort Worth, TX. This was my younger daughter's spring break college tour (Central Methodist Univ., Univ. of Tulsa, TCU). Drove all day from Fort Worth and had a half hour before the <a href="http://nps.gov/hosp/">NPS</a> visitor center at the former Fordyce Bathhouse closed, then walked south on the promenade along the hillside above and behind the bathhouses after stopping at the restored open spring on the way up. I washed my hands and face in hot water coming out of a rock there before we even checked in.<br />
The next morning, after about an inch of rain the night before, we found hot water overflowing a storm drain up the hill behind the bathhouses, down the hill from the 43 capped springs, the NPS sources for the potable hot water fixtures. Vapor was rising from a storm drain at the bottom near the Hot Water Cascades, where hot water runs out of the bottom of the hill into descending pools, then into the sewer, and I washed my hands and face at the top pool. After we checked out, I filled my water bottle at a hot spring public drinking fountain and quaffed the elixir while driving home, instead of while strolling down Central.Ted Reinharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02316965987474987344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6226310258708514698.post-83683023555972041482013-10-01T20:16:00.000-07:002018-10-16T14:13:21.899-07:00Not really what I expected to be Energy-PE's first post, but I just read <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2013/10/01/government_shutdown_nasa_is_grounded.html">that about 17,500 NASA employees are staying home today. Out of 18,000 NASA employees.</a> I was at first surprised by how small the number was, then immediately felt reassured, that when the anarchists in Congress are finally put in their place, and the American community returns to making the world a better place, a relatively tiny contingent of 17,500 NASA employees will also return to providing our country with what must be one of the best returns on investment in the history of astronomical science.Ted Reinharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02316965987474987344noreply@blogger.com0