01 Nov Houses that warm with the earth

Geothermal energy is clean, inexpensive, inexhaustible and they say it is the renewable energy of the 21st century. Good letter of introduction and string of compliments for this energy source that uses the heat of the subsoil to heat a house and heat the water. Although it is still one of the least known renewable energies, it has taken giant steps in recent years and its boom has skyrocketed since 2008. “A decade ago nobody knew what geothermal was,” says Margarita de Gregorio, director of geothermal energy at the Association of Renewable Energy Companies (APPA).

It is difficult to know the number of facilities in Spain because there is no official record of thermal renewable energies. “There may be around 2,000,” according to Miguel Madero, director of the company Girod Geotermia. In the APPA they think they are more. “According to the IDAE there is a park of 8,500 facilities, for example, in the Community of Madrid they have gone from 19 to almost 500 between 2008 and 2016 and Galicia has a cluster that estimates that there can be between 600 and 800″, analyzes Joaquín Pampillón , of the commercial department of Ecoforest, company where 30% of the sales are carried out in Spain.

Madero believes that “it continues to not penetrate in a massive way among the owners for two reasons, due to ignorance and the belief that it is an expensive system”. In addition to director of Girod Geotermia, Madero is the owner of a villa in Pozuelo de Alarcón (Madrid) that has under its soil the first geothermal installation of the Community of Madrid. This is nine years ago. It manages to heat and cool a house of 350 meters for less than 130 euros per month (1,500 euros per year). If I had a conventional gas and air-conditioning boiler, I would spend around 375 euros per month (4,500 a year).