Comments for Geothermal projects on tap at http://www.theind.com , comment 1 to 1 out of 1 comments http://www.theind.com Tue, 21 May 2013 02:35:39 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.theind.com/home/5311#comment-4606 It's about time to see some progress on the clean energy and jobs development program here in Louisiana. (Too bad LPUA rejected the money to match the SmartGrid grant) Ball State University in our fellow Catholic majority state of Indiana is developing the largest geothermal plant in the USA, to power it's campus. http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/18167 First, they're doing this because their coal plant is polluting, it's old and needing replacing and because the cost of doing the same thing they had before was MORE than going green. So Two, because it just makes fiscal sense. Also, the more we appreciate that investing money in energy efficiency allows us to cut the waste out (the pork if you will) then the easier it is to fathom the idea that increasing our renewable energy systems to 20% of current production by 2020-2030 will be sufficient to power all of the needs of our economy...because the other 80% will have been wrung out of the system by then through efficiency upgrades. The US already has significant nuclear, hydro and gas power systems, along with some solar, and a good bit of wind. The coal we get eliminate feasibly, that is at least 1/2 of all domestic power generation. It's too easy to get stuck in this mentality of everything having a cost,...sometimes there is an opportunity cost, not a reducing cost to doing business. Seriously, did anyone see the articles about industrial upgrades around Louisiana making plants more efficient? Here's an article from McKinsey company which references Dow's efforts to achieve return on investment through efficiency. http://www.mckinsey.com/clientservice/ccsi/pdf/Amory_Lovins_Int.pdf and here is what UL's Industrial Assessment Center has done for industrial design to achieve energy efficiency... http://www.louisiana.edu/Advancement/PRNS/lala/2009-SPRG/engineering.pdf $173 million in savings. - Jason D. Faulk Mon, 07 Dec 2009 20:10:23 +0100