New USGS study pumps geothermal

A study today from the U.S. Geological Survey suggests geothermal has the potential to generate 529.9 gigawatts of electricity in the United States.

Of the untapped potential, about 9 GW could come from conventional, identified geothermal systems, the study said. More than 30 GW could come from conventional, undiscovered geothermal resources, and the remainder could come from unconventional geothermal systems with high temperatures but low permeability of rock formations.

"The results of this assessment point to a greater potential for geothermal power production than previous assessments," Dirk Kempthorne, U.S. secretary of the interior, said in a release.

There have been few national resource estimates in the last 30 years
on the potential for geothermal in the U.S., which currently has an
installed capacity of about 2.5 GW. Among them is a report last year from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (see MIT report says geothermal power not to be ignored).

Geothermal power plants are currently operating in Alaska, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, and Utah. The U.S. generated 15,000 GW-hours of geothermal energy in 2005, while 4,055,400 GWh of total electricity were produced. Geothermal made up a quarter of the renewable power generation that year from sources other than hydropower, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The research came from a collaboration of the U.S. Department of Energy, Bureau of Land Management, the University of Nevada-Reno, the University of Utah, Idaho National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the geothermal industry.

Geothermal is widely regarded as a huge potential contributor to energy portfolios.

The Geysers geothermal field in Northern California is the largest producer of geothermal electricity in the world, according to Vancouver, British Columbia-based Western GeoPower (TSX:WGP), which has agreed to deliver 265 GW per year of geothermal power to the Northern California Power Agency of Roseville, Calif., starting in 2010 (see Western GeoPower in $520M California supply deal).

Mountain View, Calif.-based Google (Nasdaq:GOOG) has said it plans to invest $10 million in enhanced geothermal systems and to pressure the federal government to provide more funding for the sector (see Google pushes for enhanced geothermal).

Elsewhere, private companies are exploring new geothermal techniques. Geysir Green Energy said it has invested approximately $650 million in geothermal energy projects and businesses (see Envent to develop new geothermal plant in Philippines).

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