Ok, so with that guy's earth tube test, he was transferring about 200 Watts with 2 holes. There are about 3500 Watts per ton of refrigeration, so you figure that out. Dozens of holes per ton of capacity.
You ain't me, so you may enjoy digging holes. I don't. You already have a well, so guess what? I recommend the same thing: put your well pump on a solar panel.
Your line of thinking is correct with respect to the ground having low heat transfer. It has lots and lots of buffering ability, but not by the pound. As the recirculating ground loop gets larger, the heat transfer ability follows, eventually approaching that of a well or cave.
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