GEOTHERM HEATS OREGON TOWN

Ore. Town Uses Geothermal Energy to Stay Warm; Ore. town is poster child for geothermal energy, toasty sidewalks during winter and all
Jeff Barnard, March 20, 2010 (AP via ABC News)

"A combination of hot rocks and water like those that created Yellowstone's geysers have been tapped by the city to keep the sidewalks [of Klamath Falls] toasty since the early 1990s. They also heat downtown buildings, kettles at a brewhouse, and greenhouses and keep the lights on at a college campus.

"Geothermal wells in this town of 20,000 mark one of the nation's most ambitious uses of a green energy resource with a tiny carbon footprint, and could serve as a model for a still-fledgling industry that is gaining steam with $338 million in stimulus funds and more than 100 projects nationwide…Geothermal energy is unknown in much of the country but accounts for 0.5 percent of the nation's energy production."

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"…[H]ot rock is closer to the surface here, and comes with the water needed to bring the energy to the surface…With more than 600 geothermal wells heating houses, schools and a hospital as well as turning the turbine on a small power plant, Klamath Falls shows what everyday life could be if stimulus grants and venture capitalists turn geothermal energy from a Western curiosity to a game-changing energy resource.

"Until now, geothermal energy has been limited by having to find the three essentials ingredients occurring together in one place naturally: hot rock relatively close to the surface, water, and cracks in the rock that serve as a reservoir…Those limitations go away if engineers can tame…Enhanced Geothermal Systems [EGS]…[which] could be producing 100 gigawatts of electricity — equivalent to 1,000 coal-fired or nuclear power plants — by 2050, and has the potential to generate a large fraction of the nation's energy needs for centuries to come…"

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"One form of EGS involves drilling thousands of feet down to reach hot rock, pumping water down to fracture the rock to create reservoirs, then sending down water that will come back up another well as hot water or steam that can spin a turbine to generate electricity…The system can be dropped in practically anywhere that hot rocks are close enough to the surface to make drilling economical…The major problem with EGS is the potential to create earthquakes…[Earthquakes have stopped EGS projects] and an international protocol has been developed for monitoring and mitigating earthquake problems…

"Federal funding for geothermal started during the 1970s Arab oil embargo…[T]he Obama administration revived support for geothermal energy…[I]t is funding 123 demonstration projects in 38 states with stimulus funds…The centerpiece is $25 million to AltaRock Energy, Inc., of Seattle and Sausalito, Calif., to demonstrate EGS can produce electricity economically and without producing earthquakes…People in Klamath Falls don't have to be convinced…"