A new program in Framingham, Massachusetts is leading the transition from gas to geothermal heating and cooling.
Megan Hall: Welcome to Possibly, where we take on huge problems like the future of our planet and break them down into small questions with unexpected answers. I’m Megan Hall.
This episode, we’re taking a look at one neighborhood in Framingham, Massachusetts. This summer, residents had their furnaces and ACs replaced with a network of pipes that get energy from the heat of the earth. The network is the first of its kind in the country.
We had Cameron Leo and Christine Okulo from our Possibly Team look into this.
Cameron Leo: Hi, Megan!
Christine Okulo: Hello!
Megan Hall: So why are the folks in Framingham using heat from the earth?
Cameron Leo: Well, In the Northeast, most households still use gas to heat their homes.
Christine Okulo: Which is a problem because warming our houses that way creates a lot of greenhouse gases. If you’re like the average American, about a third of your greenhouse gas emissions come from heating your home.
Cameron Leo: Plus, in Massachusetts, almost 20% of gas pipes are leak-prone. And when these pipes leak, they release methane, a powerful gas which is both a safety risk, and a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions.
Christine Okulo: A report in 2016 estimated that those leaks were collectively erasing all of the climate gains promised by the state’s energy efficiency programs.
Cameron Leo: New repair and replacement laws have helped—but since new leaks crop up all the time, experts say it’s impossible to ever finish fixing them.
Christine Okulo: Instead of spending billions playing catch up, some people thought we should invest in an entirely new energy system.
Megan Hall: So that’s what’s happening in Framingham?
Cameron Leo: Exactly. One neighborhood there made the switch over to ground-source heat pumps, which use electricity to pump water from a couple-hundred feet below-ground, where the temperature is a steady 55ºF all year.
Christine Okulo: This system warms buildings up during the winter, and cools them off during the summer—so residents can get rid of their gas pipes and air conditioners all in one go.
Megan Hall: I feel like heat pumps have been around for a while.
Cameron Leo: That’s true, but what makes the Framingham case exciting is that the system was paid for by a gas utility, which connected all the pumps together to form what they call a “thermal network.”
Megan Hall: So why would a gas utility company pay for its customers to switch to a gas-free service?
Cameron Leo: We were wondering the same thing, so we spoke with Eric Bosworth from Eversource, the gas company that operates the network in Framingham.
Eric Bosworth: The states that we operate in are moving towards decarbonized options. And so as part of that, the gas business takes a look and says, how can we decarbonize? Network geothermal was interesting because it is ultimately just pipes in the ground, very similar to what we do every day in the gas business.
Cameron Leo: In fact, thermal networks use the same exact kind of pipes as gas lines—so workers already have the skills to install them.
Megan Hall: That’s interesting. But what about residents? Aside from creating less greenhouse gases, what’s in it for them?
Cameron Leo: In the long run, there’s no doubt that thermal pumps save customers money.
Christine Okulo: They use less electricity to heat and cool your house than any other system. Especially when you’re dealing with a network rather than individual pumps.
Megan Hall: What about the cost of getting all of this new equipment?
Christine Okulo: It’s true. It is expensive to get the heat pumps installed. In some cases. It can take up to a decade to pay off the price of the equipment and installation. That’s kept a lot of people from making the switch.
Cameron Leo: Which is another reason why what happened in Framingham is a big deal. Since the utility company covered the cost of all the installation, residents started benefiting from lower utility bills as soon as the network was installed.
Megan Hall: How much are they saving?
Cameron Leo: Residents are expected to see their utility bills go down by up to 20%.
Christine Okulo: And their greenhouse gas emissions slashed by 60%.
Megan Hall: So, is this how all of us should be heating and cooling our homes?
Christine Okulo: Well, this is a pilot project, and there are more coming in other states- which might use slightly different techniques.
Cameron Leo: Different utilities will also have different cost models. So we’ll see which approaches and cost models are most effective. But either way, heating our homes with renewable energy is a key step towards a fossil fuel-free future.
Megan Hall: Great! Thanks, Cameron and Christine
That’s it for today. You can find more information, or ask a question about the way your choices affect our planet, at askpossibly.org. You can also subscribe to Possibly wherever you get your podcasts or follow us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, X, or Bluesky at “askpossibly”
Possibly is a co-production of Brown University’s Institute for Environment and Society, Brown’s Climate Solutions Initiative, and the Public’s Radio.
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