Originally published January 6 2006
Manitoba companies specialize in the manufacture of geothermal heat pumps
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
The impact of Manitoba companies like Ice Kube Systems is being felt around the world, as a recent report by the Geo-Heat Center at the Oregon Institute of Technology has confirmed that geothermal heat pumps, which Manitoba companies have specialized in designing and manufacturing, are one of the fastest-growing renewable energy solutions in the world.
From the permafrost of Siberia to energy-hungry communities in China, Manitoba companies are turning up the heat around the world through the design and manufacture of geothermal heat pumps (GHPs).
"Green heat" is the term many in the renewable energy industry are giving to the energy generated by geothermal technology because it is constant, free and right under our feet.
With a global market that has installed about 1.1 million GHPs to date, geothermal technology is one of the fastest-growing applications of renewable energy in the world, according to a report by the Geo-Heat Center at the Oregon Institute of Technology.
Ice Kube Systems of West St. Paul, just outside Winnipeg, was the first Manitoba firm to specifically design and manufacture GHPs to operate in lower temperatures.
Vice-president Ed Lohrenz says the company helped bring about a complete change in approach to heating and cooling large buildings, starting with ice rinks.
Northern Heat Pump - based in Winkler, 120 kilometres southwest of Winnipeg, is making strides in the Asian market.
She says she appreciates the constant, even heat in winter and the central air conditioning in summer.
This also means not having to feed her wood-burning furnace day and night, a big factor in her original decision to go with a GHP.
It grew by 50 per cent last year, representing around 30 per cent of the total Canadian market and the highest per-capita installation rate in the country, says Dominec Marinelli, marketing analyst for Manitoba Hydro's earth-power loan program.
The Hydro loan provides up to $15,000 toward the cost of GHP installation, which is repayable at a fixed interest rate of 6.5 per cent over 15 years.
It installed a GHP to make ice for its hockey arena and heat the adjacent community hall in 1998, with help from the commercial incentive and fund-raising.
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