The founder of the OIT Center is John Lund (right and right), who was more recently interviewed by a European geothermal blog site on Enhanced Geothermal Systems involving deep drilling for high dry rock. Radioactive decay results in temperatures deep underground of up to 9000 F, so it is a matter of how deep you go. I haven't seen John since perhaps the 70's when I, too, was involved with this technology as one of the two reservoir engineers with Bill Chen of the University of Hawaii at Hilo on Hawaii Geothermal Project Well A. This was one of those rare sustainable resource projects that actually worked the first time we tried. We (the whole team was led by John Shupe, Dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Hawaii and director of the Hawaii Natural Energy Institute) found, drilled and operated a 3 MW powerplant at a cost of just under $10 million. Down to 6450 feet, the temperature we recorded of 630 F was a world record then. Maybe it still is the highest. The Hawaii Natural Energy Institute helped create Noi'i O Puna, the geothermal equivalent of the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority for ocean energy at Keahole Point.
While geothermal heat has been recorded to have been used by the Chinese in the third century BC, the first actual commercially produced electricity occurred in 1911 at Larderello, Italy. However, in 1881, King David Kalakaua visited Thomas Edison to discuss using volcano power from the Big Island to transmit to the Hawaiian Islands using underwater cables. I was a minor part of a $26 million study in the 1980's to bring 500 MW from Puna to Honolulu. However, a combination of Hawaiian Rights groups, environmentalists, marijuana growers, local residents who were anti-development and Rain Forest enthusiasts convinced Judge David Ezra in the '80's to retard progress. My posting of 15July2011 goes into some detail on the "Future of Geothermal Energy." However, Judge Ezra announced his retirement, a few Hawaiian groups joined the effort and geothermal energy is once again, a quarter century late, showing some signs of life.
Worldwide:
| Country | Capacity (MW) 2007[10] | Capacity (MW) 2010[22] | Percentage of national production |
|---|---|---|---|
| USA | 2687 | 3086 | 0.3% |
| Philippines | 1969.7 | 1904 | 27% |
| Indonesia | 992 | 1197 | 3.7% |
| Mexico | 953 | 958 | 3% |
| Italy | 810.5 | 843 | 1.5% |
| New Zealand | 471.6 | 628 | 10% |
Almost all of this American geo-power comes from California, but there is huge potential elsewhere in the U.S.:
The foremost national study of geothermal energy was chaired by Jefferson Tester (left) of MIT, and was published in 2006:
The panel observed that, perhaps, while the current production is only the equivalent of 3 nuclear powerplants, by 2050, 100,000 MW of firm power could be supplied (or as much as 100 nuclear reactors--just about the number now operating).
Finally, John Lund just co-authored a paper on U.S. geothermal energy policy, providing much about what you might want to know about this option.
Mind you, there are environmental concerns about geothermal, ranging from the smell of rotten egg (hydrogen sulfide, which is also poisonous), effect on groundwater, release of hydrocarbons, worry about arsenic and other water pollutants, and some initial noise. But, would you rather use coal or uranium to generate the electricity you need? Of course, geo- releases considerably less greenhouse gases than coal power.
There, too, are various elements of opposition from religious, lifestyle and culturally sensitive groups. Even Mililani Trask (right), a former opponent, has more recently been convinced about the sensibility of responsible geothermal development. Thus, in consideration of competitive costs, widespread availability of the resource, the baseload power to be supplied and potential for a major expansion if high dry rock can be tapped, geothermal energy is a sustainable resource worthy of high prioritization.
Finally, John Lund just co-authored a paper on U.S. geothermal energy policy, providing much about what you might want to know about this option.
There, too, are various elements of opposition from religious, lifestyle and culturally sensitive groups. Even Mililani Trask (right), a former opponent, has more recently been convinced about the sensibility of responsible geothermal development. Thus, in consideration of competitive costs, widespread availability of the resource, the baseload power to be supplied and potential for a major expansion if high dry rock can be tapped, geothermal energy is a sustainable resource worthy of high prioritization.
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Hey! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge about geothermal energy. You have an interesting and very informative page. I'll be looking forward to visit your page again and for your other posts as well. Glad to have a chance to drop by and learn additional information about this particular topic from your blog. Keep up the good work!
In addition to that, I have read an article stating that geothermal electric plants were traditionally built exclusively on the edges of tectonic plates where high temperature geothermal resources are available near the surface. The development of binary cycle power plants and improvements in drilling and extraction technology enable enhanced geothermal systems over a much greater geographical range.[24] Demonstration projects are operational in Landau-Pfalz, Germany, and Soultz-sous-Forêts, France, while an earlier effort in Basel, Switzerland was shut down after it triggered earthquakes. Other demonstration projects are under construction in Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.
Our equipment is capable of drilling wells in excess of 2500' deep
Geothermal NH
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