2 Indiana schools receive $6 million in geothermal grants

MUNCIE — The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded $6.3 million to two Indiana colleges to install environmentally friendly geothermal energy systems.

Ball State University will receive $5 million to replace coal-fired boilers with geothermal heat pump systems. And the Indiana Institute of Technology will receive $1.3 million to install geothermal heat pumps using carbon dioxide as the cooling medium.

Geothermal systems use buried pipes to tap into the Earth's natural heat storage capacity to both heat and cool.

Indiana Sen. Dick Lugar said geothermal technologies hold a tremendous potential for energy savings in the nation's buildings. He said a Department of Energy study found that aggressive deployment of geothermal technology could save the nation up to $38 billion by 2030.