by Andrea Cascia
Now we don't talk about anything else: "electric". The applications in this field are endless and to date it is the only possible alternative to traditional energy sources. So we are talking about renewables, i.e. energy sources which, unlike coal, oil, natural gas, uranium and plutonium, can be used almost infinitely.
Therefore, it is not only necessary to go towards electricity, but it is necessary that this energy is the result of production processes that do not damage the planet and above all our environment.
Then it is important to bring up the concept of “green economy”. To do this we can refer to the last speech of Mrs. Inger Andersen, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme, held on the occasion of the “Launch of Emissions Gap Report 2023” – Nairobi, KENYA.
The report, as expected, reports a continuum worsening of the emission of greenhouse gases and the increase in average temperatures, with the manifestation of consequent extreme meteorological phenomena. Therefore, the support of most countries for policies in favor of interventions aimed at combating these phenomena continues, but at the same time the green light is given to projects of a completely different nature. Utopianally, the very countries responsible for the majority of missions should put more effort into solving the problem. A problem that concerns all peoples and that only the development and implementation of so-called clean energy production technologies will allow, if not completely, a good mitigation of the problem.
So the solution is to turn everything electric? It's possible? Current production technologies are not able to guarantee the need in this sense. New York, during the summer period, it undergoes different blackouts electrical, due to the increase in energy demand. From this perspective, it is necessary to pursue sustainable solutions that are already applicable with mature technologies capable of saving energy, such as the exploitation of underground geothermal energy.
Evensource's experience in the USA
Eversource, a Massachusetts electricity company, is implementing a project to create an underground network of pipes that will use geothermal energy to power 40 buildings in the town of Framingham. The water from the pipes does not reach the radiators of the houses directly, but transports the thermal energy stored in the ground which, through a system of exchangers, allows the heat pumps to work more efficiently and therefore use less electricity. By the same principle, the fluid can then be reused to transport the heat of homes, during the summer period, into the subsoil which will be able to store it for subsequent use in the winter period.
The company's intent is to study the operation of this plant for two years, at the end of which to evaluate whether it can represent a commercial model to be replicated. The initial financial commitment is onerous and is around 14 million dollars, but the system, which finds its strong point precisely in connecting different buildings with different needs into a network.
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