RosemontLa Petite-Patrie alley could get geothermal heating

Some residents in Montreal's RosemontLaPetite-Patrieneighbourhood could one day heat their houseswith geothermal energy, rather than electricity or gas, if a pilot project is a success.

The idea came from a group of like-mindedresidents in La Petite-Patriewho've worked togetherin the Green Alley orRuelle Verteprogram.

We had this general knowledge about different possibilities, and it came quite naturally,- Bertrand Fouss, General Manager ofSolon

They organizeneighbourhood events in the shared common space behind their homes, including moviescreenings and book exchanges.

After spending some time working together, the neighboursrealizedthey could do something on a much larger scale with their alleyway,which issandwiched between Chabot Street to the west,Bordeaux Street to the east, Beaubien Street East to the north and BellechasseStreetto the south.

"At one point the discussion was: Could we be more clever from an energy, from a mobility point of view?" said Bertrand Fouss, who is spearheading the pilot project.

Foussand one of hisneighbours both work in the field of alternative energy solutions.

"We had this general knowledge about different possibilities, and it came quite naturally ... to think about district heating," Fouss said.

The citizens created a companycalled Solon. Headed byFouss, Salon came up with a proposal dubbed Celsius and it has receivedthe thumbs-up from the borough.

Borough mayor Franois Croteau calledthe project "innovative" and said it's the type of idea he'd like to see more of.

Geothermal wells access heat deep below surface

The idea is toinstallgeothermalwells about200 metresbeneath the alleyway.Horizontal pipes wouldcarry water, heated bygeothermal energy, to thehouses of anyone who wants to participate.

Fouss saysheating withgeothermal energy would reduce the emission of greenhouse gaseswhile also reducing residents' heating bills.

While the main focus of Celsius is to produce heat using geothermal energy, it could potentiallybe used to store energy captured by solar panels as well.

A feasibilitystudyon the projectis expected to get underwayin September, at a cost of about$100,000.

Croteausaidhis administration would contribute$10,000 towards the study.

Solon is seekinganother $50,000 fromthe Federation of Canadian Municipalities, and the rest of the funding is tocome from various partnerswhich haven't yet been confirmed.

If all goes as planned, and the project gets the go-ahead,the whole project could be finished in two orthree years.

The size of the geothermal network is not yet decided,but Croteausaid he hopes to see the pilot project expanded toa larger scale at some point.

Pascal Sanchez, who lives a few doors down from Fouss, said he'lldefinitely be signing up once the network is in place.

"I think as a citizen we have to support this kind of project," he said.