Cascades Make Oregon a Geothermal ‘Hotbed’
By Ethan Lindsey – OPB News – June 1, 2009
Geothermal power soon will get a share of $400 million in federal stimulus money.
That’s a tectonic shift for a field that almost had its funding zeroed out under the Bush Administration.
Any money for Oregon geothermal projects could have a real impact.
Klamath Falls’ water is naturally heated by the earth’s core, even though the air is freezing months on end.
That free, renewable energy in the hot water is why many see geothermal power as a key piece of a green energy future.
John Lund is the director of the Geo-Heat Center at the Oregon Institute of Technology.
John Lund: “They heat most of the eastside of the city, most of the schools. We have greenhouses that are heated in town, we melt snow, and we even have a brewery that makes their beer using geothermal energy.”
Right now, worldwide, about 25,000 megawatts of heat energy comes from geothermal sources.
Many experts predict that could double in the near future – saving a lot of natural gas and electrical heating power in the process.
The city [Klamath Falls] estimates that its geothermal sources replace 60 megawatts worth of conventional power every year and that amounts to a savings of 50,000 barrels of oil and millions-of-dollars.
But while geothermal is effective at heating, the real frontier is figuring out how to use geothermal to generate large-scale electricity.
There is already 10,000 megawatts of geothermal power worldwide right now — a lot in Nevada and California.
Right now, Oregon gets less than 1 percent of its heat and power from geothermal.
But Oregon could get as many as four geothermal power plants in the next 10 years.
The plants would be located across the state and produce 210 megawatts of energy.
And remember, because of its consistent nature, geothermal is an ever-present, baseload power source.
The cost is relatively inexpensive, ranging from 3 to 7 cents per kilowatt-hour.
That’s a little less than Oregon customers pay for power right now.
One power plant will be on the Oregon Tech campus, which could mean the school wouldn’t have to buy power from the outside.
John Lund: “Here is the power plant, 200 kilowatts gross.
O.I.T.’s John Lund says decades ago, geothermal ran into trouble with environmentalists for pollution and land use impacts. Supporters say new technology solves most problems.
John Lund: “You catch the rotten egg smell, that’s hydrogen sulfide. And it’s not enough to actually hurt you. The water from the wells come into this storage tank, and from this tank its fed to all the buildings on campus.”
The construction of power plants is more expensive and not as advanced as just using the water for its heat.
Take, for instance, a potential geothermal gusher in the Newberry National Monument south of Bend.
There, an investment company has spent millions of dollars drilling two deep wells, and come up empty.
John Lund: “With large projects, there is a risk up front. And the risk is when you drill a well, does it produce temperature and water? And that’s the big problem right now – very few investment firms are willing to take on that risk.”
Lund says because of its landscape, Oregon possesses a treasure trove of geothermal power.
And because of early development here, researchers believe the state can become a leader in geothermal research and education.
