This map shows the distribution of geothermal resources across the United States.
(Photo courtesy of the US Department of Energy)
Geothermal power plants turn
heat from under the Earth into
electricity. It’s a way of
making power with practically
no pollution. And, according
to a new report, there are more
companies investing in this kind
of energy. Mark Brush has more:
Transcript
Geothermal power plants turn
heat from under the Earth into
electricity. It’s a way of
making power with practically
no pollution. And, according
to a new report, there are more
companies investing in this kind
of energy. Mark Brush has more:
The report was put out by the Geothermal Energy Association. They found the number of geothermal power plant projects being developed jumped by 46% compared to 2008.
They say the jump was driven by federal stimulus money. And some state laws that mandate that utilities provide a certain percentage of renewable power.
Karl Gawell is with the Geothermal Energy Association. He says, right now, there are specific places where these power plants work best.
“Well, the best reservoirs right now tend to be in the western United States. And in areas where the heat of the Earth actually comes closer to the surface of the Earth. But, you know, the potential is nationwide.”
Gawell says we don’t have good technology to find new heat reserves under the Earth. And, until we invest in better exploration technology, we won’t know where to find these hot spots.
(Photo courtesy of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory)
Whenever solar power is mentioned,
critics are quick to note – when there’s
no sun, there’s no power. Lester Graham
talked with the author of a report who
says one type of solar power can store
energy:
Transcript
Whenever solar power is mentioned,
critics are quick to note – when there’s
no sun, there’s no power. Lester Graham
talked with the author of a report who
says one type of solar power can store
energy:
Lester Graham: Concentrating solar thermal, or CST, can store power. Basically, mirrors are used to concentrate solar rays, heat up water, generate power. The heated water can be stored as heat in tanks – like coffee in a thermos – and produce electricity when needed. Britt Staley is with the World Resources Institute. She’s the lead author of a new report on concentrating solar thermal. So, you found, if it’s done right, CST could be built instead of coal-burning power plants. How practical is that?
Britt Childs Staley: We think that concentrating solar thermal is a very exciting renewable energy technology precisely because of this potential for storage. If you incorporate thermal energy storage, or fossil fuel backup, with your concentrating solar thermal, you can actually use the power of the sun around the clock.
Graham: Now, the CST plants are expensive – they’re more expensive than building a coal-burning power plant. So, why build them if that’s the case?
Staley: With climate change as a major concern in the US and around the world, we are going to need to reduce our dependency on coal in the power sector. And currently, as you said, concentrating solar thermal power is more expensive than coal, but in this report we’ve identified several policy interventions that could help reduce costs. For example, a price on carbon such as the cap-and-trade mechanism in the current Waxman-Markey Bill, and then some solar-specific policy interventions would help as well.
Graham: Now, when you say ‘policy interventions’, really you’re talking about government subsidies, right?
Staley: Yes. Support for R-and-D, for deployment such as the investment tax credit that’s currently in place.
Graham: Obviously, the most sunny places would be the best location for a concentrating solar thermal plant.
Staley: Mm-hmm.
Graham: And the most sunny places are often in arid places, such as the US Southwest. So, they’re the driest places, and CST relies heavily on water. So, in the long term, what’s the solution?
Staley: There are several alternative cooling technologies that are available and that can cut water by up to 95% to 98% in places where that is a concern.
Graham: Is this completely experimental, or have we seen this done anywhere in the world successfully?
Staley: It’s absolutely been done successfully. Here in the US, we have some of the longest operating CST plants. And Spain is another good example of where CST deployment has been particularly successful to date.
Graham: How long would it take to build one of these, and how soon could they contribute, and how likely is it to happen, given the cost?
Staley: A lot of the plants that we see on the drawing board right now are expected to be in operation in the next 2 to 5 years. With climate change concerns, with climate change legislation working its way through the House and Senate, coal plant investments are not particularly attractive right now. And investors are very wary of putting their money into something that’s going to be significantly more expensive in the coming years. Concentrating solar thermal, on the other hand, is a zero-emissions power resource. Also, it has zero fuel costs.
Graham: Britt Staley is the lead author of a report on concentrating solar thermal power plants. She’s an associate researcher with the World Resources Institute’s Climate Policy Team. Thanks very much for talking with us.
Several geothermal power plants at The Geysers (Photo courtesy of the US Department of Energy)
A new kind of commercial-scale
power plant is tapping the earth’s heat
and converting it to electricity. Lester
Graham reports:
Transcript
A new kind of commercial-scale
power plant is tapping the earth’s heat
and converting it to electricity. Lester
Graham reports:
A company called Raser Technologies just started up a new electric generating plant
using geothermal. No emissions, no pollution – just power.
Brent Cook is the CEO of Raser.
“This first phase of the plant that we just brought on-line will power approximately
nine-thousand homes in the city of Anaheim, California.”
Cook says this technology will work a lot of places out West where the earth’s crust
is a little thinner. You don’t have as far to drill down into the earth.
A National Renewable Energy Lab report estimates geothermal could meet about a
third of the nation’s electrical demand.
And, this new technology developed by UTC Power could work other places. For
example, it could convert waste heat from factories into electricity.
For The Environment Report, this is Lester Graham.
This map shows the distribution of geothermal resources across the United States. (Photo courtesy of the US Department of Energy)
