Geothermal 1

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Screening Renewable Energy AlternativesGeothermal
Energy

• Patrick (Pat) Laney
• Idaho National Laboratory
• February 7, 2005

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Geothermal Water Cycle
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Geothermal Uses
District Heating
Heat Pumps
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Where Are We Likely To Encounter High Subsurface
Temperatures?
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Geothermal Power Production
Existing Capacity
There are currently 119 geothermal power
producing units in 4 states with a combined rated
capacity of about 2,500 Mw.
There are many projects in various stages of
exploration, planning or building. Those
publicly announced exceed 325 Mw.
New Projects
California 340 Mw Nevada 69 Mw
Data from GEA http//www.geo-energy.org/
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Advantages of Geothermal Power

• High availability factor
• Base load resource
• Little or no emissions
• No Fuel Cost Risk
• Plants are fairly unobtrusive

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Disadvantages of Geothermal Power

• Resource is harder to find than wind or solar
• Resource is mostly in western states
• More expensive to bring on line
• Longer lead time

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How Do You Find Geothermal Resources?

• Early resources were found primarily by
• Visual observations of existing springs thermal
  features
• Elevated temperatures in shallow domestic and
  industrial wells

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Finding Geothermal Resources
Field reconnaissance and geologic mapping were
responsible for many early discoveries
Many early exploration techniques from petroleum
exploration were incorporated
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Finding Geothermal Resources
Current exploration practices include a wide
array of physical and remote sensing measurements
including

• Satellite Imagery
• Gravity Surveys
• Seismic Surveys
• Geochemical Surveys
• Modeling

• Multispectral imaging
• Soil mapping
• Geothermometry
• Vegetation mapping
• InSAR

Modeling
Seismic Surveys InSAR
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Finding Geothermal Resources

• You Have To Drill !

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DOE Program Mission To work in partnership with
U.S. industry to establish geothermal energy as
an economically competitive contributor to the
U.S. energy supply. DOE Program Goal Reduce the
levelized cost of generating geothermal power to
0.03 to 0.05 per kilowatt-hour by
2010 Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) should
increase geothermal production to 20,000 MW by
2020.
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GeoPowering The West

• GPW State Working Groups
• DOE sponsored
• Run by state leads
• Meetings 1-3 times per year
• Active in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Utah, New
  Mexico and Arizona
• Similar organizations in California and Nevada
• New groups forming in Montana, Wyoming and Texas

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Contacts Web Resources
Industry Information Current Prospects
Developers Karl Gawell, Executive Director,
Geothermal Energy Association, Phone (202)
454-5264, E-Mail karl_at_geo-energy.org
Geothermal Research Development
Information DOE Geothermal Technologies Program
http//www.eere.energy.gov/geothermal/ Geothermal
Resources Council http//www.geothermal.org/
Individual State Geothermal Maps
http//geothermal.id.doe.gov/maps-software.shtml