For millions of years, invisible streams of water have run deep in the earth below Manhattan at a constant temperature of 65 degrees, a source of energy that seems beyond exhaustion \u201d\u201d and beyond reach. But eight months ago, a seminary in Chelsea began to pump water from those streams to heat its buildings in the winter and cool them in the summer.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s forever noiseless, forever pollution-less, forever carbon-free,\u201d\u009d said Maureen Burnley, the executive vice president of the General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church.<\/p>\n
For the seminary, and now about 60 other places in Manhattan, the unseen bounty of the earth is being harvested by geothermal pumps. Manhattan is geologically suited for these deep wells. From a depth of 1,500 to 1,800 feet, the pumps deliver the consistently moderate temperatures of underground water to the surface, where it works like a refrigerant. It carries energy.<\/p>\n