PORTA Junior & Senior High School in Petersburg, Illinois Using Geothermal and Wind Power

PORTA Junior/Senior High School in Petersburg, Illinois is making an effort to actively promote and participate in ecological issues. This year the school has begun extensive "greening" of its facility. Heating and cooling have been switched to a geothermal system and the school is in the process of building a 600 megawatt wind turbine on the school grounds. PORTA is one of only about a half dozen Illinois public schools that are using alternative renewable energy sources. This project received governmental support with some financial support coming from the Internal Revenue Service in the form of a Clean Renewable Energy Bond. The bond is basically an incentive for switching to renewable methods of generating electricity.

The wind turbine will provide in the area of 80% of the building's power needs and save the school almost half a million dollars per year in the long run. As for the geothermal, the Environmental Protection Agency says that geothermal is the all around best method for controlling temperature in a building. It is very energy efficient and has virtually no direct impact on the environment.

The impact of this project extends beyond the school grounds. This project has helped raise awareness of the viability of alternative renewable power sources. Hopefully other public schools will take note of this project and look to start similar projects. There is no denying that school buildings use a lot of power. If these schools took a page from PORTA's book and set up their own renewable energy sources the amount of demand on public power companies (and their subsequent fossil fuel usage) would drop dramatically. Even the people living in the area could be motivated to try alternative power. After learning about this project, I have begun looking into setting up a small wind turbine on my property. PORTA school's projects are showing that alternative renewable power is not only feasible, it is simply a good idea for the environment.

Sources:

http://www.progressillinois.com/2008/07/10/schools-look-to-wind-power

http://www.wind-watch.org/news/2006/11/24/porta-studying-whether-generator-would-be-wind-wind-situation/

http://americancityandcounty.com/admin/finance/afford_green_power/

http://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/energyfacts/sources/renewable/geothermal.html#HeatPumps