geothermal

Nevada to up geothermal production by 25 percent

Nevada, already the second largest producer of geothermal-generated electricity in the U.S., is set to increase its power production by 25 percent.

The state is getting three new geothermal plants thanks to a $350 million 20-year loan guarantee from the Department of Energy to geothermal company Ormat Technologies.

The Ormat Geothermal Project will consist of three separate geothermal power-generation facilities--one each in Jersey Valley in Pershing County, Tuscarora in Lander County, and McGinness Hills in Elko County.

All three installations when fully operational will produce enough electricity to power about 88,000 homes annually, according to Ormat Technologies, the … Read more

Virtual lithium mine attaches to geothermal plant

Simbol Materials today started operations at a plant in California that extracts lithium and other battery materials without having to dig new holes in the ground.

The company has developed a way for getting valuable metals from the discharge brine of geothermal plants, a process that could help make the U.S. a much larger producer of lithium and other important metals. Its operation, which it expects to expand next year, is in the Imperial Valley of California.

Rather than drill wells or mine for minerals, Simbol Materials' process separates lithium carbonate, zinc, and manganese from the brine brought up … Read more

Oil well taps wastewater for renewable energy

An oil drill in Mississippi is breaking new ground in waste heat, using unwanted water to run a generator that runs on waste heat.

ElectraTherm, which makes the waste heat generator, said the Denbury oil well near Laurel, Miss., has successfully installed its GreenMachine product and shown that it can provide 20 percent of the electric power needed for the drilling. The demonstration was funded by a $460,000 federal government grant, half of which was paid for by one of ElectraTherm's distributors.

Waste heat is considered a relatively untapped source of energy that could make many industrial processes, … Read more

Geothermal to double by 2020, report says

The world will see a significant increase in the use of geothermal as an energy source between now and 2020.

That's according to a report released this week by Pike Research.

The research analyst constructed several scenarios based on an estimated 10.7 gigawatts of geothermal capacity in existence throughout the world in 2010.

That 10.7 gigawatts equates to about 67 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity, with the U.S., which currently possesses 3.1 gigawatts of installed geothermal systems, as the world's leading user.

In fact, 88 percent of the world's geothermal energy systems currently in … Read more

Study: By 2030, world can run on renewables

Scientists from Stanford University and the University of California at Davis have crunched the numbers and come up with a plan for how the world might economically and feasibly make the move to renewable energy in the next 20 to 40 years.

In a two-part paper (Part 1 PDF, Part 2 PDF) published in the journal Energy Policy, Mark Z. Jacobson and Mark A. Delucchi show in great detail the who, what, where, and how of implementing a renewable energy-run world. It includes solutions to economic, material, and transport issues.

Jacobson, an atmospheric scientist and professor of civil and environmental … Read more

Undersea robot captures rare deep-sea eruption

Science buffs got an early Christmas present when rare video was released showing a spectacular undersea volcanic eruption deep in the Pacific Ocean.

The West Mata volcano sits nearly 4,000 feet below the surface of the Pacific in an area bordered by Fiji, Tonga, and Samoa. It was discovered in May by scientists with funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Science Foundation. Lucky researchers managed to catch high-definition video of the eruption with the help of a remotely-operated underwater robot named Jason.

Jason's cameras captured masses of lava bubbling up into the cold … Read more

U.S. geothermal could supply 7 million people

If current projects under development are completed, the U.S. could have as much as 10 gigawatts of geothermal power at its disposal, according to a new report from the Geothermal Energy Association.

Through several extraction methods, geothermal energy harnesses heat from the Earth for the purpose of heating and cooling buildings or for power generation. Many have argued for years that geothermal is an underestimated resource for clean electricity.

There are currently 144 new geothermal projects under development in 14 states. If successful, those projects could add up to 7,100 megawatts (7 gigawatts) of power to the existing 3,100 megawatts of U.S. geothermal energy output. That would give the U.S. a total of roughly 10 gigawatts of power capacity from geothermal energy, according to data from the GEA's report (PDF) released Wednesday.

"At the high end, that would be enough baseload power to supply about 20 percent of California's total electric power in 2008--or enough generating capacity to supply the power needs of about 7.2 million people," the GEA said.

The GEA gives a state-by-state breakdown, listing how many new geothermal projects are under way and the potential amount of energy they could collectively generate. Nevada leads with 64 new projects that could add a geothermal capacity of up to 3,473 megawatts. California, Oregon, Utah, and Idaho follow respectively, with capacities ranging from 238 MW to 2,436 MW. Here's the breakdown:

Nevada, 64 projects, potential 1,876-3,473 MW California, 37 projects, potential 1,842-2,436 MW Oregon, 13 projects, potential 317-368 MW Utah, 10 projects, potential 272-332 MW… Read more

Geothermal start-up AltaRock suspends drilling

A new company pursuing an advanced geothermal energy technology has had to suspend its first attempt to drill a deep well in Northern California.

AltaRock Energy on Wednesday said it ran into problems during drilling for a demonstration project, "resulting from geologic anomalies particular to the formation" at the Geysers Geothermal field.

The project, said to be budgeted at $17 million, was partially funded by a Department of Energy grant given to several companies to explore the viability of enhanced geothermal systems. Sausalito, Calif.-based AltaRock was funded by Google and venture capital company Kleiner Perkins Caufield & … Read more

Yellowstone dominated by geothermal activity

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK--If there's any doubt that more visitors to this treasure of nature check out Old Faithful than anything else, all you need to do is compare the size of the world-famous geyser's parking lot to that of any other place in the park.

But while Old Faithful may be synonymous with Yellowstone geothermal activity in most visitors' minds, it is, in fact, just one of hundreds of geysers, hot pools, mud pots, hot springs, and steam vents scattered throughout the park. And on Road Trip 2009, I set out to explore the lesser-known members of the … Read more