Growth In The Geothermal Industry!
So what is happening in the geothermal industry at the moment? Momentum is building! More and more drilling contractors are including geothermal bore hole to there list of abilities. But more is needed. More in what way you may ask. Well more trained personnel, more equipment and more technology. Bodies such as IGSPA (International Ground Source Heat Pump Association) are doing a fine job in educating and training certified contractors. But more is needed. Why? Let’s look at the figures.
Using the latest government data from the 2007 “State of the Union” speech. We need 40 million new sites using geothermal heat pumps in the next 10 years. So we need to have more drillers. How many are needed? To hit the 40 million we need to have a 40% increase each year. That means an extra 4,200 drillers next year. That 4 thousand will have to be 5,800 new drillers the year after so that is 10,000 extra drillers in the next two years. Remember the industry has to grow at 40% per year to hit the target of 40 million sites. So by the 10th year an extra 120,500 drillers need to found over and above the drillers that have been certified in the last 9 years! That’s a total of over 411,000 in ten years. Can the industry do this? I don’t think so not with the expected infrastructure growth rate. The current growth rate is between 10% and 15% per year.
So what is being done? Well you can encourage growth now. By doing that we get a better start and this will help. Remember this is not just for commercial growth, it is also about saving the planet.
In the mean while please keep pushing geothermal. It makes sense. It can bring in new business to your company and at the same time reduce the energy consumption of the world. So you make a little money and help save the planet, that’s got to be good. Make sure you have trained and certified drillers. Go to the IGSPA web site for more details. www.igshpa.okstate.edu Get this done soon because by looking at the above date, training courses are soon going to booked for months if not years ahead. Geothermal is here to stay. It is the most efficient means of heating or cooling ever discovered. It has been proven by over one million sites that are currently operating in the USA alone. So what are waiting for?