Like the villain in the 1958 horror movie The Blob, a floating bed of algae called sargassum can double in size every two weeks, sequestering massive amounts of carbon dioxide in the process. Control the growth of sargassum and one can control the temperature of the planet; so goes the thinking at Seafields Solutions Ltd., a U.K. […]
In the first six months of 2022, 24% of U.S. utility-scale electricity generation came from renewable sources, based on data from U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Electric Power Monthly. Renewables’ share increased from 21% for the same time period last year. Renewables are the fastest-growing electricity generation source in the United States, accoring to the EIA. […]
What is Geothermal energy Geothermal energy is produced by utilizing the heat from water reservoirs deep underground which has been heated by hot magma that lies close to the earth’s surface. The majority of Geothermal resources are normally found along tectonic plate boundaries where a large number of volcanoes and earthquakes are concentrated. There are […]
I’ve received a copy of a new regulation framework for geothermal energy in Europe. Handed to me by a colleague last week, whose associate led the drafting of the document. Geothermal is still an infant industry. In many countries, governments lack even a basic mechanism for granting licenses on geothermal projects. There just isn’t any […]
The number of geothermal energy projects in the U.S. grew by 26% last year, to 188, as development of the alternative energy source spread from the western states to the Gulf Coast. Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas reported their first geothermal projects in 2009, according to a new report from the Geothermal Energy Association in Washington, […]
Scenario planners like Peter Schwartz often talk about “signpost” events. These are happenings, often small in and of themselves, which suggest a larger change rippling through the ether of a business, industry or nation. There have been a number of signpost events in the geothermal sector recently.A few months ago I discussed the emerging trend […]
As I’ve mentioned a few times, geothermal looks to be approaching a rolling boil.A few more positive indicators on the sector presented themselves over the past week. First came news last week that the state of Alaska will reduce royalty rates for geothermal projects on state lands. Previously, state geothermal royalties had been set at […]
Geothermal giant Ormat announced this week it’s going to Japan. Ormat signed a cooperation agreement with Japanese construction conglomerate JFE Engineering. The deal calls for the two companies to work together in building geothermal power plants in Japan. Ormat supplies the equipment, and JFE does the work. This is a telling move from one of […]
U.S. Geothermal announced this week a strategic partnership with Enbridge, one of North America’s largest operators of oil and liquids pipelines. Under the deal, Enbridge will invest $23.8 million toward the development of Geothermal’s Neal Hot Springs project in Oregon. The buy-in will net Enbridge a 20% direct ownership in the operation. This is another […]
The US geothermal power sector is poised for significant growth in 2011, thanks to the economic stimulus package. Approximately 500MW to 700MW of geothermal power projects will enter the final construction phase next year, an increase from 162MW in 2010 and 125MW in 2009, according to the Geothermal Energy Association’s (GEA) market update. Many of […]
Renewable energy financiers are bullish on the geothermal sector, but resource and drilling risks still make them skittish. Total investment in the clean energy sector reached a record $243 billion in 2010, but only $1.8 billion, or 0.76%, was directed at the geothermal sector, Mark Taylor, head of the finance team at Bloomberg New Energy […]
USGS estimates 500,000 MWe of EGS geothermal resource potential lies beneath the western United States. This is approximately half of the current installed electric power generating capacity in the United States. _EERE PDF The US could be producing 32 million times more geothermal electrical power than it does at present. The U.S. produces more than […]
According to a report released last week by Pike Research we’ll see a significant increase in the use of geothermal as an energy source between now and 2020. Pike reminds that the worldwide potential is immense, but geothermal remains an underutilized resource and represents only a small fraction of the global renewable energy portfolio. Improved […]
The glow of many a hot and bothered commuter will be harnessed for local heating in Stockholm and Paris. Swedish realtor Jernhusen is investing SEK 1 billion in the regeneration of Stockholm Central Station, including an innovative geothermal system to capture and channel the body heat of its 250,000 daily commuters. Heat exchangers in the […]
Researchers from the University of Minnesota’s Department of Earth Sciences have developed an approach to extracting geothermal energy more efficiently while reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide at the same time. The new approach, which the researchers call carbon dioxide-plume geothermal system or C.P.G., uses high-pressure carbon dioxide to produce power from the Earth’s heat. In conventional […]
With Washington finalizing a last minute debt deal to avoid a default, some are preparing for what’s next. Frankly, the poorly pieced together debt deal will do little more than delay a default, in the meantime, both the public and private sectors will need to scramble to figure out how to kickstart the economy. One […]
Aside from cost constraints, perhaps the biggest hurdle facing nations seeking to embrace renewable energy is its unpredictability. Re solar, the sun goes down. Plant your biofuels patch and drought could wipe out an entire crop. And the wind is variable. Two seemingly constant natural cycles are tidal power and geothermal energy – if either […]
Indonesia’s geothermal energy is literally bursting from the ground, with the world’s highest number of volcanic hot spots. Unfortunately, Southeast Asian politics and a lack of foreign investment is bogging down the great potential of the country’s clean energy market. With plans to add as much as 9,000 MW of installed capacity by 2025, the […]
Kenya, plagued by electricity shortages like many of its East African neighbors, has awarded Japan’s Toyota Tsusho Corp. and South Korea’s Hyundai Engineering Co. contracts to build $420 million in new geothermal plants. The contracts for the Olkaria I and Olkaria IV geothermal power plants represent Kenya’s largest ever geothermal plant project and are Toshiba’s […]
The Earth started its existence as a red-hot rock, and has been cooling ever since. It’s still quite toasty in the core, and will remain so for billions of years, yet. Cooling implies a flow of heat, and where heat flows, the possibility exists of capturing useful energy. Geysers and volcanoes are obvious manifestations of […]
Among African nations, foreign observers can only cheer on Rwanda’s progress as it recovers from Africa’s most brutal civil conflict after the Democratic Republic of Congo (DROC). A vicious civil war erupted in 1990, led by the Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic front (RPF), which led in turn to a murderous genocidal 1994 conflict, in which Hutu […]
About 30 years ago Sandia Labs developed polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC) bits for geothermal drilling. Today nearly two-thirds of the oil we use comes from wells drilled using the (PDC) bits. That’s technology gone astray, valuable – and still missing the original point. Now Sandia and the U.S. Navy recently brought the technology back full circle, showing how […]
A recent study by the engineering industry consultants Sinclair Knight Merz (SKM) has concluded that by spending just £11 million a year to raise geothermal energy subsidies the UK could help to develop an industry that has the potential to supply 20 percent of its electricity needs. They found that geothermal sources could provide 9.5GW […]
Despite the recent victory of Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party, which is pro-nuclear and won a nationwide parliamentary vote on 16 December, issues surrounding the country’s nuclear energy policies will not go away. In the aftermath of the 11 March 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear crisis, the then ruling Japanese government Democratic Party of Japan took the […]
The biggest weakness of renewable power advocates is the fact that the sun doesn’t always shine, nor the wind blow. Geothermal power, which does not suffer from down time, is slowly gaining ground in the United States. According to the U.S. government’s Energy Information Administration, “Geothermal is one of the main renewable energy sources used […]
France finds itself in an interesting conundrum that the oil industry is hoping to take advantage of: The country has banned fracking but is now planning to tap into geothermal energy which requires a process similar to fracking. In 2011, France banned shale fracking. In February, France’s Environment Ministry awarded two exploration licenses for geothermal energy, which […]
Geothermal energy is hands down THE best renewable energy avenue out there: The Earth is always generating heat, and there won’t be any “peak heat”, nor could we ever extract this energy at the same pace with which the Earth generates it. The process has a carbon footprint that is negligible compared to other fossil […]
On 27 September Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn and Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Michael Debretsion announced the first independent power project in Ethiopia’s history. The $4 billion 1,000 megawatt Corbetti geothermal plant will be built in two 500 megawatt stages over 8-10 years and when it comes online, will be Africa’s largest geothermal facility. Reykjavik Geothermal, a […]
In the ongoing energy debate about fossil fuels versus renewables, solar and wind renewable sources have a shortcoming – the sun doesn’t always shine, the wind doesn’t always blow. Three renewable resources, in contrast, can provide electricity 24/7 – hydroelectric, wave and geothermal. A major plus side for all three is that, like nuclear power, […]
Renewable energy has always faced a significant bottleneck for broader acceptance – the wind doesn’t blow 24 hours a day, the sun doesn’t always shine, and 24/7 renewable power sources such as hydroelectric dams require massive investment before coming operational. Given that consumers are solely concerned with bottom line, the cost of a kilowatt-hour, renewables […]
In the aftermath of the 11 March 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear crisis, the then ruling Democratic Party of Japan took all of the country’s 54 nuclear reactors offline before subsequently restarting two NPP reactors at the Oi nuclear power facility in Fukui Prefecture. Nevertheless, not unexpectedly, resistance to nuclear power generation nearly three years after […]
Japan’s Chuo Electric Power Co. is preparing to launch the country’s first new geothermal power project in 15 years at a time when Tokyo is grappling with energy alternatives to its deactivated nuclear reactors. The new geothermal plant on Japan’s southern island of Kyushu will take advantage of the area’s natural hot springs and volcanic activity and […]
When someone who has just completed a series of mining asset sales totalling $1.6 billion chooses to share some frank thoughts on geothermal power, you have to respect the source. Geothermal bubbled up in the news in May as a lost opportunity for BC Hydro in the Joint Review Panel’s thumbs-sideways assessment of the Site C dam project. Lumina […]
The bubbling sulfur springs and powerful, majestic geysers of Yellowstone National Park are visible manifestations of the potential for geothermal energy in the United States. Yet for various reasons — including logistics, economics and permitting issues — geothermal has not even come close to reaching its potential. That could be changing, though, with the introduction […]
Geothermal is presently a minor player in the field of renewable energy and for the reasons discussed here is likely to remain one, but Energy Matters has never featured it before and it deserves its fifteen minutes of fame. Besides, I worked in geothermal a number of years ago and haven’t revisited it since, so […]
Earlier this month an article published on Oilprice argued that the future for geothermal power was limited, at best. In short, the article argued; • There are a shortage of high-temperature resources;• Geothermal heat can’t be transported and must be used on site; and,• Questioned geothermal power sustainability. However, these three points have little to do with […]
The debate over geothermal energy has generally been a quiet one. With just 13 gigawatts (GW) of global installed capacity, it is considered by some to be a relatively non-controversial (or even irrelevant) energy issue. Yet a new study questioning the health risks associated with geothermal power generation could bring this neglected energy source into […]
From compact fusion to solar energy generation, the world has been desperately searching to find a way to generate energy which is not only abundant but cleaner and cheaper than conventional fossil fuels. Geothermal energy is one energy source which is more than capable of satisfying the world’s entire energy needs (at least in theory). […]
Geothermal energy is one of the most widely available green energy sources in the world today. In spite of its availability, its consumption is almost miniscule when compared to wind and solar energy mainly due to high drilling costs that are associated with it. Geothermal energy can actually help reduce the cost of conventional fuel, […]
Among all the countries of the world, Iceland has arguably the most interesting power generation system. While the country lacks the beaches, geographic location, and population that would make it a significant economic power in say, tourism or international trade, it does have a very unique feature; its volcanos. The island is largely powered by […]
One little noticed side result of the recent Paris Conference was the launch of the Global Geothermal Alliance. The goal of the group is to promulgate a six fold increase in geothermal electricity production by 2030 along with a tripling of geothermal derived heating. The group says that although geothermal power today provides around 12 gigawatts of […]
Struggling with a fourth-quarter loss of US$588 million, Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX), the second largest U.S. oil producer, is now believed to be working towards a $3-billion divestiture of its Asian geothermal assets. According to anonymous sources cited by Bloomberg, Chevron is already talking to financial advisors, but no formal process for such a divestiture has been […]
Oil and gas companies have earned a bad reputation through their drilling practices, yet their advances in drilling technology that have made possible the extraction of oil and gas from super-deep wells have also been highly beneficial to the exploitation of renewable resources, and more specifically geothermal energy. Currently, the USA leads the world in […]
Authorities in Djibouti are working to increase the share of renewables in the energy mix, with a particular focus on harnessing the country’s plentiful geothermal resources. In early August Djibouti’s Office of Development of Geothermal Energy inked a memorandum of understanding with Japanese conglomerate Toshiba to develop some 50 MW of geothermal energy projects across […]
There are few places on earth as geothermal-friendly as the island nation of Iceland, with 25 percent of its total electricity production coming from geothermal facilities. So it makes sense that Iceland is now the stage for a joint attempt by Statoil and The Iceland Deep Drilling Project to drill the world’s deepest geothermal borehole. The drilling, which began […]
Geologists and engineers have successfully drilled into the heart of a volcano in Iceland, as part of a project aimed at assessing the economic feasibility of using deep unconventional geothermal resources to deliver renewable energy. Drilling so deep into such a hot borehole poses many difficulties, but if researchers manage to overcome the challenges, fewer […]
In January Thierry Tanoh, the minister of oil, energy and renewable energy development, announced that work on the new units at Ciprel and Azito’s combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plants would begin this year. Expanding capacity, boosting efficiency Azito Energie, a subsidiary of the UK-headquartered IPP Globeleq, which has focused its operations in Africa, signed an […]
I wrote this column in Iceland, where I recently traveled on a working vacation. While in Iceland I met with an innovative energy producer whose technology could help mitigate carbon dioxide emissions. Iceland is unique among countries in that it obtains nearly all its electricity from renewable energy. Iceland’s glacial rivers contribute about 70 percent of its electricity via […]
In Alaska, energy has long meant one thing: oil. Extraction and production in Alaska’s oil rich North Slope has been the powerhouse of the state’s economy for decades. In recent years, however, the once-mighty Alaskan oil industry has been in steep decline. Despite a few years of improvement in 2016 and 2017, with many experts predicting […]
The world’s geothermal power generation capacity this year hit 14.9 GW. The figure is minuscule compared with fossil fuel or even renewable generation capacity but a figure that’s growing. And now, a team of scientists may have found a way to add a battery storage system tailored specifically for geothermal power. Led by Dr. Sachiko Matsushita, the team […]
‘Geothermal is America’s untapped energy giant,’ the U.S. Department of Energy said in a report last year, highlighting in its analysis that this kind of “always-on” flexible renewable energy resource could grow 26-fold to generate 8.5 percent of U.S. electricity by 2050. Technology improvements and cost cuts in geothermal energy could come from what some would think […]
Big Oil majors have been scrambling to make the most ambitious climate commitments in the industry, planning a pivot to clean energy, talking about net-zero emission bills, solar, and wind. However, there is another clean energy source that has remained out of the spotlight–one that may eventually rise to prominence: geothermal. Geothermal energy is, simply […]
It’s abundant, and it’s emissions-free: the heat from the earth’s mantle that reaches well into the crust and gives deep drillers a headache occasionally is the new star on the renewables block. Nevertheless, oil and gas companies have been somewhat reluctant to embrace it. Let’s first clarify: geothermal energy is only “new” in terms of the […]
With so much talk about offshore wind and utility-scale solar, it is easy to forget about one other abundant, emission-free energy source. Geothermal has garnered a lot less attention than the more established forms of renewable energy generation, but this is slowly changing as parts of the world increasingly focus on replacing fossil fuels with […]
BP and Chevron, this Tuesday, announced plans to invest heavily in geothermal energy through a new innovative start up. The new technology introduced by Canadian startup Eavor, pronounced “ever”, provides a clean energy source directly from the earth’s heat. BP and Chevron have made a $40 million investment in Calgary-based Eavor, bucking the trend by developing […]
“The decade of geothermal” is a phrase that is becoming increasingly common in media and energy industry gatherings as the international zero-emission push comes to include one of the most fascinating—and clean—ways of extracting energy from the earth: geothermal power. To reach the heat that the mantle of the Earth radiates into the core, geothermal […]
While solar and wind are the dominant segments in the transition to renewables, a number of emerging markets are looking to geothermal sources as a way to meet future energy needs. Geothermal energy – which is generated when pipes drilled into the earth’s surface supply steam to power electricity turbines – lags behind other forms of […]
As the world begins to accept the urgency of mitigating and adapting to climate change, many nations around the globe are starting to work toward a clean energy transition in more tangible and ambitious ways than ever before. The transition can’t come fast enough. This August the UN issued a “code red for humanity” accompanying […]
Following the COP26 summit in November, it seems governments are racing to develop their renewable energy sectors. But as they turn their backs on fossil fuels, many appear to be focused almost solely on wind and solar power, largely overlooking alternative options. After years in the making, the U.S. geothermal industry is finally gaining momentum, […]
The need to develop a variety of energy sources has never been so evident. As the global reliance on a few specific oil and gas sources becomes clear, it seems obvious that we should be investing in diversifying our energy mix. But while governments are looking to expand their solar and wind power, is enough […]
The European geothermal heating market, at one time dominated by only a handful of countries, is set to experience a purple patch in the coming years as governments scramble to find an affordable alternative to expensive gas-fired heating, Rystad Energy research shows. Total installed capacity is projected to surpass 6.2 gigawatt thermal (GWt) in 2030, […]
In response to Paris Agreement targets and pledges made at the 2021 COP26 climate summit, governments and energy firms around the world are looking to expand their energy portfolios and tap into a wide variety of clean energy sources. Beyond the most well-known – solar and wind – there are a plethora of other renewable […]
A group of startups and researchers are developing technologies to expand the output of geothermal energy. Geothermal plants produce steam from underground reservoirs of hot, porous rocks saturated with water, and channel it into electricity-making turbines or pipes that heat buildings. Although the energy is virtually free of carbon emissions, its adoption has been limited […]
From above, the 2,000-acre new housing development just outside Austin, Texas, looks much like any other. Each home has solar panels, but that’s no longer uncommon. But the Whisper Valley community is entirely unique thanks to what lies below. Far below. The master-planned community, which will eventually include multifamily units and garden apartments in addition […]
Heating Up The Biden administration has announced an ambitious new goal to make the use geothermal energy “widespread,” underlining the administration’s efforts to phase out the country’s reliance on fossil fuels. The US Department of Energy (DOE) said in a Thursday statement that US President Joe Biden hopes to make enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) “a widespread renewable […]
The future of clean, renewable energy is underneath our feet. Quite literally. The core of the earth is very hot — somewhere between 7,952 degrees and 10,800 degrees Fahrenheit at the very center. If we can drill down from the surface into what’s called superhot rock, then we could access the heat of the earth and turn […]