Step up to the Trough: DOE adds $20 million to geothermal till for cutting-edge ideas

In Washington, the U.S. Department of Energy says it will add up to $20 million for research, development, and demonstration of cutting-edge geothermal technologies. The Department says the objective of this funding opportunity is to demonstrate the technical and economic feasibility of non-conventional geothermal energy technologies.

The research areas they would like explored include low-temperature fluids, geothermal fluids recovered from oil and gas wells, and highly pressurized geothermal fluids.

Specifically, funding will be available in the following topic areas:

A. Low-temperature geothermal fluids at temperatures up to 300° F (about 150° C).
B. Geothermal fluids produced from productive, unproductive, or marginal oil and gas wells, mining operations or other hydrocarbon or mineral extraction processes.
C. Highly pressurized or geopressured fluid resources that show potential for cost-effective recovery of heat, kinetic energy, and gas.

None of these are new to readers of the Digest. Bernie Karl in Alaska is already producing electricity from a low temperature source. A couple of groups are likely to benefit from the new funding. GTherm, which currently is backed by the Electric Power Research Institute, has a system it believes can produce electricity from abandoned oil and gas wells. Free Green Energy LLC, meanwhile, is exploring geopressured resources for the purposes of turning the inherent kinetic energy into useful power.

Potential project proposals suggested by the DOE might include innovative cooling systems — for example, air-cooled, water-cooled, or hybrid systems — or use innovative working fluids. Other concepts might utilize more efficient heat exchanging materials or maximize of energy output through a combination of electricity generation and direct-heat technologies.

Prospective applicants for the funding are encouraged begin developing partnerships, formulating ideas, and gathering data for potential applications. The expected close date of this announcement is July 9, 2010. The complete funding opportunity announcement can be seen here.