GEOTHERMAL ADVANCES

Geothermal resources used to produce renewable electricity in western states

Fred Mayes, Sept. 26 2014 (U.S. Energy Information Administration)

“Geothermal energy…[provided] 0.4% of total U.S. generation in 2013…mostly in California but increasingly in other western states…[Virtually emissions free, dispatchable, baseload] electricity is generated from conventional geothermal resources by tapping underground reservoirs of [steam or] hot water [to generate electricity]…This process requires plants to be able to access high-temperature fluids from deep, naturally permeable rock formations…

“…[E]nhanced geothermal systems (EGS) are engineered reservoirs created to produce energy from otherwise noneconomic geothermal resources. EGS plants fracture impermeable rock formations to access hot fluids…The high-pressure hydraulic fracturing inherent in many EGS projects has in the past caused seismic events…similar to induced seismicity caused by shale gas production…Such events are rare…[T]he U.S. Department of Energy has developed a protocol to deal with seismicity issues. EGS plants are currently being developed in several countries, and the first commercial-scale plant in the United States, the Desert Peak East pilot project in Nevada, began operating in 2013…There are currently 64 operating conventional geothermal power plants in the United States, accounting for nearly 2,700 megawatts (MW) of total capacity at the end of 2013…EIA projects that geothermal electricity generation could more than quadruple between 2012 and 2040…to over 67,000 GWh…” click here for more

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