New Report Finds Potential in New Geothermal Technology

The thermal energy stored in the Earth's crust could be converted into electricity to provide a substantial portion of future U.S. power needs, probably at competitive prices and with minimal environmental impact, according to a new study sponsored by DOE and led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology [MIT]. A 21-member expert panel released a report that examines the potential to tap into the heat in Earth's crust and convert it into electricity. The report found the potential to generate 100,000 megawatts of power from geothermal resources within 50 years. That's roughly one-tenth of the total generating capacity that exists in the United States today.

While today's geothermal power plants draw from underground reservoirs of hot, permeable rock containing significant amounts of water or steam, the MIT-led panel specifically examined enhanced geothermal system [EGS] technology, which involves creating such geothermal reservoirs in areas that lack either the water or the permeability, or both. Such technologies were previously tested by DOE in New Mexico and are currently being explored in Europe and Australia. See my previous post and the EGS technology description on the DOE Geothermal Program Web site.

Thanks in part to advances in drilling technologies for the oil and gas industries, the process of drilling deep into the crust to access hot, hard layers of rock and pumping water in to "stimulate" the reservoir—opening up cracks in the rock to allow water to permeate through—has already been proven. The report recommends more detailed and site-specific assessments of the U.S. geothermal resource, followed by several field trials at prime locations that would run for three to five years as a demonstration of the EGS technology.

EGS technology offers a huge expansion to the possible locations that can use geothermal energy and is a promising technology for the relatively long term. While conventional geothermal can continue to be a growing part of our renewable energy portfolio now, EGS will take at least 15 years to fully develop and require a modest $1 billion investment over that time period, an investment that should be made. It is important that we make this investment because it is a low cost way to increase our energy independence in a renewable way that can reduce the need for new fossil fuel and nuclear plants.

I am late on reporting on this potentially breakthrough technology, but is so important that it deserves a great deal of attention. Clean Break has a good blog on the subject and Atlantic Geothermal has a list of all the blogs that have been made on the subject.

Comments

[tblakeslee:]

It is amazing how geothermal seems to have been off the radar in most discussions of alt energy. Since clean coal power is far from a reality (The Futuregen prototype power plants wont even be built till 2012!) Wind power is variable so we need a dependable, economical source of power.
One company that has been profitably building geothermal plants for decades is Ormat (ORA on the NYSE). They have amassed an amazing patent estate of over 70 patents and currently have over 900 megawatts of geothermal installed. They have an extremely reliable device that produces power from any heat source using a closed cycle system containing a fluid with low boiling point. This device can recover wasted energy from pipelines, oil wells, and generating plants. Here's a quote from their release on recovery from oil wells:
"A 70 kW Ormat ORC power system was also used in a project co-sponsored by the US Bureau of Reclamation, Ormat and others. This ORC unit operated for 16 years using water with temperatures as low as 154 degrees Fahrenheit to produce electricity.Some 8,000 similar wells were identified in Texas, by Prof Richard Erdlac of the University of Texas of the Permian Basin, and the US DOE Geothermal Research Project Office. Ormat is now assessing the feasibility of utilizing some of these wells to support on site power generation by employing Ormat's factory integrated sub megawatt geothermal power units, based on the Company's proprietary ORC technology, which has been field proven in installations totaling 900 MW world wide.” (Note that 8000x70=560Mw!)
phx.corporate-ir.net/p...;p=irol-newsArticle_pr...
Ormat also does very large power plants and is now building a 200 MW plant in New Zealand and a 350 MW plant in Indonesia.
www.export.gov.il/Eng/...;ArticleID=3891&am...
They have been making excellent profits selling power at a fixed cost against competing technologies such as coal, oil and nat gas. This business should be all the more profitable as environmental controls and sequestration costs drive up the cost of competitive power sources. Their system is completely clean and sustainable: They even recycle the water used to carry heat from deep underground.
The oil industry has developed deep drilling and water injection technology to a high degree and brought the costs way down.
I personally am very encouraged and hopeful for a clean future based on a combination of wind and geothermal power.

2007 Feb 02 05:48 PM