In the question from PA Practice Exam #1 Black Spectacles asking
An architect is working on a small development where the developer would like to minimize greenhouse gas emissions.
Which energy source will help them meet this goal?
Geothermal
Photovoltaic panels
Which one is correct, and what is the logic behind it?
Hi @Kryadchenko thanks for writing in!
This question is currently formatted as a recall question where a statistic located in one of the ARE handbook resources is the key to answering the question. That said, I’m going to adjust this question to provide more information in the scenario.
You really need to understand more about the systems being proposed to truly answer the question - if PV panels are used in conjunction with an oil furnace to heat the home, but the geothermal system is used in conjunction with clean energy from the grid, then I’d say geothermal is correct. Conversely, if the geothermal system, which uses a good amount of electricity to run, is powered by a coal power plant, but the PV system is used for electric heat as well and there are no fossil fuels being used to heat the home, then PV is the right answer.
Thanks for bringing this to my attention and I hope this response was helpful!