U.S. Geothermal Power Poised to Double, Survey Shows

[jpak]

http://www.renewableenergyaccess.com/rea/home

(scroll down to latest headlines)

Washington, DC. With 45 geothermal projects under way, the U.S. total geothermal power capacity online in 2005 was 2,828 MW, and that number could nearly double, as a survey on U.S. geothermal power output shows, due to a major surge in developing geothermal power projects within the U.S.

"If we can build and sustain the momentum that EPAct has given the industry, geothermal energy can become a major U.S. energy source. But we face serious challenges this year in Congress."-- Karl Gawell, Geothermal Energy Association, Executive Director

According to a recent survey by the Geothermal Energy Association (GEA), "2006 Update on US Geothermal Power Production and Development" identified new power projects in Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon and Utah. These projects, when developed, would provide between 1,817.9 MW and 2094.9MW of new electric power for the grid. That would be enough electricity to meet the needs of cities the size of Albuquerque, Las Vegas, Sacramento and Seattle combined, GEA noted.

The document reviews the status of installed power generation and new activity across the U.S. and provides an update of federal government programs and incentives plus a summary table of projects under development.

"New federal and state initiatives to promote geothermal energy are paying off," said Karl Gawell, GEA's Executive Director. "State renewable standards coupled with the federal production tax credit are creating a renaissance in U.S. geothermal power production.

<more>

[nashville_brook]

1. wow -- you never see geotherm news!

so much attention is being focused on wind farms now (it seems).

a random observation:
just drove across texas and oklahoma. i'm an east-of-the-mississippi kinda girl. the cross-country trip was inspired partly by a desire to understand "America" better. nothing like waking up in a different bio-region everyday for a few weeks to provide perspective.

the single most searing image in my mind from the trip is sunrise on Interstate 10 getting close to Big Bend. On the south of 10 there was a field of pre-modern oil wells with the dinosaur-looking pumps slowly cranking dregs of black sludge.



on the northern side of I-10 there were lines of graceful, white wind generators, looking like giant cartoon-y flowers. the postmodern windmills faced off the industrial-age oil wells with a powerful grace as if to say, "looky here you idiots."

i know the wind generators that we have now are killing flocks of birds, and they aren't exactly silent. therre's plenty of room for improvement. BUT -- there was an OBVIOUS visual lesson in seeing the juxtaposition: 'we can do better."



am i the only person who sees beauty in these practical things? a few years ago we had the chance to purchase a geothermal house on 10 acres of land here in tennessee. the structure was a work of art and no small part of the appeal was the parsimonious engineering -- and how a gorgeous gunnite swimming pool acted as a holding area for the water that ran thru the pipes under the house.

this stuff is amazing to me b/c it's practical nature has inherent beauty. it's not just 'power' in a raw sense that is generated. there's 'beauty' that compells to the human spirit to generate it's own power.

[megatherium]

2. I'm worried that geothermal power will deplete the

paleo-heat in the Earth's crust, which will lead to the crust shrinking and cracking in huge earthquakes. :tinfoilhat:

[Dead_Parrot]

3. Cool...

(Well, quite hot actually, but you know what I mean).

There's a few states there I didn't think would have the geology for it: Finding out from someone actually building plants there is a very nice surprise.