Puffery about geothermal energy going on at ACM

To the Editor: Cumberland Times-News Today’s article about the new Allegany College of Maryland library refers to the heating and air-conditioning system as geothermal. (“Big library move scheduled to begin at Allegany College,” July 22 Times-News, Page 1B) This is a very misleading reference. I would characterize it as an attempt to show that the new building’s heating and air conditioning system is more environmentally friendly then it actually is! Geothermal energy (heat) is energy obtained from areas of hot springs and geysers. Iceland uses steam from fumaroles as their major source of steam to provide heating and produce electricity. From your published description, the ACM system is a heat pump. Heat pumps are widely used particularly as air conditioners where the heat from the cooled space is transferred to the hotter... [read full story]