Colleges Explore Geothermal Power Systems

More college campuses are exploring geothermal power as a way to reduce energy costs that can add up to millions of dollars each year.

Schools from Wisconsin to New Mexico have geothermal projects in the works, and 46 schools are sharing millions in federal stimulus money to advance technology that uses the Earth’s temperature to heat and cool buildings.

A typical geothermal system works like this:

On a warm day, the system draws heat from buildings and pumps it underground where the soil absorbs it. On a cold day, systems reverse, extracting heat from the earth and returning it to buildings.

Systems can chill water to 45 degrees or heat it to 170 degrees even though the underground temperature remains about a constant 55 degrees.

12/6/2009 1:48 PM MILWAUKEE (AP)