All Entries in the "Featured" Category
No More Nukes?: Calls grow louder for Japan to adopt geothermal
In Japan, the struggle to contain a nuclear nightmare continues. And once under control, the cleanup will take years. Toshiba Corp., which supplied four of Fukushima’s six reactors, said this past week that it will take about 10 years to remove the fuel rods and the reactors and contain other radioactivity at the site.
And [...]
No Respect: Funding remains but the bully pulpit leaves geothermal wanting
In Washington D.C., President Barack Obama has laid out his Blueprint for a Secure Energy Future. And while it is a future that includes renewable energy, the document makes not a single mention of geothermal energy.
The White House is not alone in paying the technology short shrift. Earlier this year, we reported on [...]
Tax Break Season: Australia boosts support for geothermal exploration with tax deduction
In Australia, the government has announced a boost for the country’s geothermal industry in the form of an immediate tax deduction for exploration of geothermal energy sources from 1 July 2012. Announced by Martin Ferguson AM, MP – Federal Minister for Resources and Energy, the change is part of what it calls an historic resource [...]
Back to School: First U.S. geothermal academy upcoming, summer 2011
In Nevada, the state university has prepared a National Geothermal Academy, which is to be held June 20 through Aug 12, 2011, at the University of Nevada’s Redfield campus. The inaugural summer session will take forty students from around the country and put them through an intensive eight-week geothermal energy education program.
The goal [...]
Priority List: Nearly 500 MW of geothermal projects on Interior’s energy mind for 2011
In Washington, D.C., five geothermal projects are on a list of 19 that the US Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) consider as priority projects for developing renewable energy within the National System of Public Lands in 2011. The list represents projects that have progressed far enough to formally start the [...]
Profits and Losses: New Zealand benefits from geothermal while its geology trembles
In New Zealand, a national state of emergency remains in place as the country begins to recover from a powerful earthquake that devastated Christchurch on February 22. Regional energy company Mercury Energy, a subsidiary of Might River Power, has stepped up to lend a hand, while its parent company’s financial results leave it with the [...]
Ground Source Game Changer: Lose the up front costs with a PPA-like agreement
Try as they might, despite government give backs and promises of environmental friendliness, ground source heating and cooling systems continue to live in an energy backwater. Now, a New Hampshire company has come up with an ingenious plan to change that.
Saddled with high up front costs, builders and renovators have reverted to old-school boilers [...]
Give and Take: Geothermal fares better in the 2012 budget, but loan guarantees are threatened
In Washington, D.C., President Barack Obama included $29.5 billion for the Department of Energy in his Fiscal Year 2012 budget request. Energy is a main focus of an Administration-wide plan to win the future by out-innovating, out-educating and out-building the rest of the world”. The Geothermal Technology Program (GTP) is a small player inside [...]
Hot Oil: DOE to test fossil energy expertise on leftover geothermal resources
In Washington, D.C., the Department of Energy (DOE) says it will leverage oil and gas expertise to test the reliability and efficiency of geothermal power generation at oil and gas fields. The DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy and Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy will combine efforts to have experts test and validate low [...]
Geothermal Gem: Idaho getting serious about its geothermal potential
n Idaho, the Bureau of Land Management is looking for public comment on a possible geothermal lease on 760 acres about 12 miles south of Malta along the Raft River. The comment period will last through Feb. 25, after which the BLM will decide whether to allow a lease and under what conditions.
In the interim, [...]
