Pivots Toward Geothermal to Save Big Money

In places, all around the world cities and cantons are dismissing the myths around geothermal energy, perpetuated by the fossil fuel industries and other pundits, and setting about the production of clean renewable energy that will save them millions. One obvious beneficiary of this transition is Kenya who has cut the energy cost in half and is now seeing geothermal energy as an exportable commodity. Then there is Iceland who has used it to heat and power their cities as well as stop any further expansion of hydro dams.

Roma Queensland Embraces Geothermal

Now in Roma Queensland, they are proposing to build a geothermal plant that should save the Maranoa council  $20 million dollars over 20 years.

A diagram explaining how geothermal energy is turned into electricity. Photo: A diagram explaining how geothermal energy is turned into electricity. (Wikimedia Commons: Energy.gov)

This south-west Queensland council says plans to build two clean energy plants at a cost of 3 million dollars, that will power all of its city assets. The savings, of course, may, in fact, be greater as energy prices are constantly rising and there is also always pressure to bring down operating costs.
In addition to this facility nearby a 2.3 million solar panel farm in underway covering three square kilometres.

Canton Vaud to Getting 2/3 of its Heating from Geothermal

In Geneva and canton, Vaud studies have confirmed great geothermal heating potential. These resources would allow the canton to heat two-thirds of households in the region.

Geneva, Switzerland (source: Flickr, Dennis Jarvis, creative commons)

Vibrator trucks, for the past two years, have been mapping the geothermal capacity of the region.  This exploration has identified five very conducive heat zones at the medium depth which could be exploited at a minimal cost. It is expected that the next phase involving drilling will start next year.
They are very optimistic that the geothermal reserves can be developed to heat and cool buildings using local resources in an environmentally friendly way. It will also significantly reduce the region's reliance on foreign fossil fuels and save a great deal of money.
It is also anticipated that deeper drilling to create wells for geothermal electrical production could follow the initial exploitation for heating purposes.

First Commercial Geothermal Power from Oil and Gas Well

In the Western North Dakota, the first commercial began producing electrical energy from in late April from an oil and gas well. Although initially the thought is to offset the cost of having to install transmission lines, it will not be long before they many need to do this to deliver power to the grid from the wells. The potential for oil wells to produce renewable clean energy to the grid is completely untapped at the moment.

Oil wells in North Dakota (source: Flickr Tim Evanson, creative commons)

This technology uses the hot fluid, a by-product of oil, gas, and other material harvesting processes. Low-temperature geothermal resources between 66 and 148 degrees Celsius are widely available through these wells. In addition, wells could be drilled simply to run geothermal plants. Through this 100-year-old technology, electrical installations throughout North America could become a significant if not sole power source for our electical energy needs.  This would be extremely desirable as geothermal is emission-free, renewable, the lowest environmental footprint on our landscape and the cheapest form of energy on the planet.