A Googol of heat beneath Google’s feet
The energy from the heat beneath the earth’s surface is essentially an unlimited resource. What if it could be developed to help solve our energy challenges and fight global warming?
Enhanced Geothermal Systems, or EGS, attempts to do just that. EGS produces heat and electricity by harnessing the energy from hot rock deep below the earth’s surface, expanding the potential of traditional geothermal energy by orders of magnitude. EGS is a big challenge, but with the potential to power the world many times over, it demands our immediate attention. Google has launched an effort to advance EGS through R&D, investment, policy and information.
EGS is a huge challenge, with the potential to power the world many times over and demands immediate attention, according to Google.org. This is why they’ve created the RE<C initiative, to affect public policy and play a major role in deploying EGS on a large scale.
At a minimum, RE<C and Google.org believe that the following federal actions are required to advance enhanced geothermal systems:
Boost funding for federal research and development. With federal funding as the key to driving development of EGS technologies, the best road map would come from MIT and others urging concentration on areas such as drilling, reservoir creation, heat recovery and power conversion. It’s estimated that funding for DOE’s geothermal program should be increased to $50 million and steadily ramped up to well over $100 million annually.
Put the federal house in order. Siting, leasing and permitting energy projects on federal lands can be slow and arduous. They’ve called for an Executive Order to identify appropriate federal lands for EGS and other priority renewable projects and accelerate siting, leasing and permitting decisions.
Provide financial incentives to developers and producers. Congress should add geothermal specific tax provisions to encourage investment in EGS exploration, drilling and interconnection. Congress should also adopt pending legislation that would provide loan guarantees and a secondary market for loans for clean energy projects.
Enact a National Renewable Portfolio Standard. A majority of states have adopted a renewable portfolio standard (RPS) to accelerate deployment of renewable technolgies like EGS. It’s time for a federal RPS to establish a nationwide commitment to renewable energy.
What Huffman & Carpenter brings to the table for geothermal projects
Toward the goal of reducing the time required to obtain federal permitting, Huffman & Carpenter, Inc. has a strong reputation in optimizing the environmental compliance process for geothermal and other renewable energy projects through thorough, initial environmental compliance inventories. H&C can help you identify and analyze potential constraints, which will help control downstream costs.
H&C’s remote sensing and GIS analysis services can provide critical information up front on corridor alignment surveys, water quality assessments and geochemical analysis, environmental assessments and planning, water resource supply studies, wetland surveys, threatened and endangered species that may be on site, and biological assessments.
Through the use of remote sensing, our GIS department specialists can determine the size and quality of watershed areas and overlay spatial data layers to gain a sense of many diverse factors and inter-relationships for your projects.
Additionally, 3D analysis can provide an enhanced visual appreciation of the entire watershed condition and how it might impact your project. H&C understands remote sensing and GIS analysis start to finish, providing the comprehensive view you need.
