Stony Brook’s research and innovation office launched a 10 -week program on March 4, which will highlight geothermal energy.
“Geothermal from Ground Up” is an interdisciplinary educational program which presents policy, engineering, environment and economy surrounding geothermal energy, thermal energy networks and thermal pumps at land source. More than 50 professionals from the industry, the academic world, the government and the public services attended the first presentation.
“By examining geothermal energy through policies, engineering and economics, this series allows professionals to sail and advance industry,” noted Kevin Gardner, vice-president of research and innovation of Stony Brook. “Stony Brook has designed this program to fill the gap between research and the application of the real world, giving participants a complete view of the potential of geothermal energy, shaping the future of clean energy solutions.”
“Geothermal energy is an energy source that has a multitude of labor applications” added Derek O’Connor, responsible for the development of labor in the Research and innovation office. “During these 10 weeks, we hope to give participants an introduction to everything that is geothermal. On the technical side, we have practical training planned with public services, NY-Geo and IGSHPA for CVC students from community colleges seeking to become accredited installers of heat pumps at the ground on the ground this summer. »»
The content of the virtual series will be provided by industry experts, notably National Grid, Nyserda (New York State Research and Development Authority), TRC Companies, Brightcore Energy, Ny-Geo and IgshPa (International Ground Source Heat Pump Association). Each week, the program will star in various industry speakers giving presentations to key parties in the region in order to provide participants with a well-balanced platform of the latest geothermal knowledge. Lesson presented the federal and state policy from the point of view of the national public services network.
The first payment of the program presented Mike RichterWinner goalkeeper of the Stanley Cup retired for New York Rangers, who is now a defender passionate about geothermal energy. His company, Brightcore Energy, is one of the sponsors of the series as well as the company selected to place geothermal technology in Governors Island, Future Home of The New York Climate ExchangeA world leader Center for climatic solutions of which Stony Brook is the anchor institution.
“We are delighted to be part of this program,” said Richter, president and chief executive officer of Brightcore. “This is something we do every day. The idea is to provide geothermal introductory content to work engineers, designers, business developers and others who do not know it. And unfortunately, this is the case with most people. »»
Richter said he tried to increase geothermal literacy in order to educate the public about the importance of the latter.
“I think we can all agree that we have to find creative ways of non-combustion, or at least low-attic gas ways to hit the built environment. We focus on new constructions and existing buildings because a large part of the greenhouse gases come from the built environment. »»
In a dense urban setting like New York, buildings can be responsible for 70% of greenhouse gases. Although geothermal technology has existed for decades, market penetration in North America is only about one percent.
“In Europe, where we get a large part of this advanced technology, it is closer to 20%, or even 25% in Northern Europe,” said Richter. “This is commercially proven, well known in small areas and extraordinarily effective. My role in Brightcore is mainly sales, and frustration because of this lack of literacy is deep. »»
To fight this, Richter’s goal is to help more people understand geothermal technology and how it can be exploited.
“The lack of information results in a perceived risk, and this perceived risk results in inertia,” he said. “We don’t have many people who say:” We don’t want them for the following reasons. Instead, they say: “I’m not sure I understand technology”. We must show them what are the financial and environmental awards. »»
Richter described his own experience using geothermal energy. “I live in a 100-year-old house,” he said. “I transferred an old geothermal boiler about a year ago. It modulates temperatures well, it is extraordinarily silent and it is extremely effective. This is exactly what we are trying to bring both to new constructions and to the modernization market, and that is what this program is used for. I am delighted to be part and I would like to thank Stony Brook and the people behind it. You will learn a lot in this series. “”
National GRID has offered an overview of the broader energy landscape of New York State today, and what will be like future investments in the organization, including offshore wind, renewable natural gas, geothermal energy, etc.
“With the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, the State has fairly ambitious objectives that we have to achieve, and National Grid has undertaken to achieve these objectives,” said Brian SAPP, regional director of external affairs of National GRID. “One of them reduces greenhouse emissions by 40% by 2030 and 85% by 2050. We hope to be 100% without fossil fuel by 2050, and it is a difficult battle and an important challenge as we advance. Geothermal energy is one of the solutions that will help us achieve this goal. »»
The webinar has also discussed the progress and challenges of the law on thermal energy networks (USTS), an initiative aimed at promoting the development of thermal energy networks throughout the state and providing jobs to the development of transitional public services which have lost or risks losing its job, affecting the development of labor, customer engagement and the integration of existing geothermalia. Future sessions will deepen the details of the project.
– Robert Emproto