Comments on: DOE Launches Geothermal Regulatory Roadmap For Project Developers

By: Erin

Erin — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 17:53:00 +0000

After reviewing the flow charts provided on Open EI I am deeply impressed. The breadth of cross-departmental input and level of detail provided for each permit process is remarkable! From the perspective of an environmental regulatory specialist responsible for implementing regulatory action on behalf of geothermal developers, this is an excellent tool. I will pay closer attention regarding the time to completion for each permit process for the State of Hawaii and hopefully be able to provide feedback on timelines, which I notice has not received the level of attention that other areas have.

By: JamesWimberley

JamesWimberley — Sat, 08 Jun 2013 12:21:00 +0000

It’ shard to keep a discussion going when we agree completely!

By: Bob_Wallace

Bob_Wallace — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 18:58:00 +0000

Two of those four just came on line. There is significant new interest in enhanced geothermal. And AltaRock’s ability to create multiple harvest zones in a single set of bores could be a game changer.

And the fact that they used biodegradable materials to sheer the rock is also important.

Our initial geothermal installations need to be done away from population centers. And we might find that we need to do them all in more remote areas. But that’s not a disaster. We seldom build a new hydro facility inside a city.

By: JamesWimberley

JamesWimberley — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 18:30:00 +0000

EGS is a great, game-changing idea and I’ve blogged about it, but the world total for working pre-commercial pilot plants is SFIK four: Soultz (France), Landau (Germany), Habanero (Australia), Newberry (USA). The overwhelming majority of the geothermal generation in operation or under development is hydrothermal, including major investments in Kenya (the Rift Valley), in Indonesia, Japan, Central America – all tectonically active areas. Like you, I’m confident the geophysicists have mastered the induced seismicity problem; but it’s still right that developers should be required to demonstrate this to the communities concerned.

By: Bob_Wallace

Bob_Wallace — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 16:53:00 +0000

We’re making progress on enhanced (hot rock) geothermal where no hydrothermal resources are necessary. Two small plants, one in Australia and one in the US, came on line this year.

With enhanced geothermal all is needed are the hot rocks which can be sheered to permit lots of contact area for water. The water is supplied from the surface via a feeder hole and the hot water/steam comes up from one or more bored holes.

This makes geothermal possible in incredibly larger areas than where one is limited to finding existing sources of underground hot water.

We’re also making a lot of progress with minimizing seismic activity during sheering.

By: JamesWimberley

JamesWimberley — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 14:23:00 +0000

It looks as if Secretary Moniz is serious about supporting geothermal, as he indicated in a recent statement you reported.
The regulatory issue for geothermal can’t be solved the same way as for residential solar, viz, on a red tape bonfire. There are real seismic risks to evaluate (see the Basel incident, in the very early days of EGS), and hydrothermal resources are often found in environmentally sensitive areas. It’s vital to keep robust checks and avoid a backlash while streamlining the process.