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Canberrans turn to geothermal energy to lower heating bills


Geothermal energy takes heat out of Canberra bills

7.30 ACT

Residents and businesses in the Canberra region are turning to geothermal energy to lower their heating bills.

Local heating specialist Touie Smith said low running costs for geothermal, alongside rising electricity prices, were attracting more people to geothermal energy as a heating option.

A geothermal energy system runs liquid or gas through underground pipes, picking up the heat stored just below the surface of the earth.

"We're putting a heat exchanger in the ground. We're sending down refrigerant into the ground at -10 degrees [Celsius]," Mr Smith explained.

"It's extracting all the heat from the ground, then we're putting it through a heat pump unit in the house, which is then converting it into heat, to heat the house."

Mr Smith began installing the systems in Canberra homes three years ago.

"We're getting three inquiries a week on average," he said.

"I'm guessing there are about 30 systems in the Canberra region.

"Our partners have 60-plus between here and Victoria."

Ian Hendry had a geothermal system installed at his vineyard near Canberra late last year.

He said it could provide water warmed to 17 degrees by the earth, which is then used to heat his home.

"It's working beautifully for the house. The house is just sitting at a nice warm temperature," he said.

"Instead of running from one warm room through a freezing house to the next warm room, the whole house is sitting at a bearable temperature, which is very good."

An added bonus for Mr Hendry is that the cooler water entering the 30-metre underground circuit can chill his wine, while the warm water at the other end of the loop can help with fermentation.

"It actually worked pretty well for cooling the wine," he said.

"Especially with a riesling, you want it chilled, so we keep the tanks at about zero degrees.

"But at the same time we've got the barrels where the shiraz is fermenting, and it tends to want to be warmer."

It will just be a matter of time before we do see electricity production and other energy use from geothermal in Australia.
Anthony Budd, geothermal energy researcher

Anthony Budd, a leading researcher in the field of geothermal energy, said the heat energy stored below the surface of Australia could power the country for thousands of years.

"One of the reasons that Canberra is good is because we have those strong summer and winter seasons," Dr Budd said.

"The earth temperature is in between the summer and winter maximums.


Dr Budd said harnessing just 1 per cent of the geothermal energy in the five kilometres directly below Australia would be enough to fuel the country for 26,000 years.

"It's huge, it's much more than we would actually be able to ever use," he said.

"It's clean, it's renewable, and Australia has a lot of it."

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