I wanted to post this earlier, but real life got in the way. I’ve talked about geothermal energy before, and I think it would receive a lot more attention if it didn’t require so much effort and change from the way we’re used to doing things. People love the idea of a magic bullet. As usual, I digress.

This article looks at the feasibility of geothermal energy in Canada. Some notable quotes:

[Natural Resources Canada] estimate that for a new home, installing a geothermal heating system might cost you $6000 above what a straight natural gas or electric system would cost; but the system will pay for itself in less than seven years, and your annual savings on heating costs will be in the neighborhood of $450.

and

The amount of latent heat in the ground is huge and geothermal companies are sprouting up everywhere. We’re already saving at least 600 million kWh per year, which offsets 200,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions. Best of all, if you’re a homeowner, it’s an option that’s within reach for you.

The real dream, though, is to start replacing our dirty coal-driven electricity plants with geothermal. Is this something that could happen in Canada?

and

if new housing projects across the country started incorporating residential geothermal units as a matter of course, we could save ourselves the equivalent cost of building dozens of new power plants over the next few decades while reducing our carbon footprint by using less natural gas for direct home heating.

For more information, read the article. And if you still haven’t heard about just how important it is to replace coal as a source of energy, try listening to this radio segment, found here.