Related Posts for geothermal
November 3, 2010
Dan Bross, KUAC – Fairbanks: The Fairbanks North Star Borough will use federal money to investigate local geothermal energy potential. $1 million from the Department of Energy is being put out by the borough as a request for proposals to develop a model and technology for turning underground heat into electricity. Borough Grant Coordinator Chris Storkok explained the goals of the effort to the Borough Assembly last week.
The Borough Assembly has approved offering the money as a grant to an entity that can provide matching funds. Fairbanks is already on the geothermal map for the successful development of a power plant at Chena Hot Spring Resort. Engineer Gwen Holdman, who stewarded development of the project, and now serves as Director of the Alaska Center for Energy and Power at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, says Chena Hot Springs could produce some level of power for Fairbanks. Read more
September 17, 2010
By Molly Rettig of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner: Large rolls of black tubing sat like super-sized balls of yarn next to the playground outside Weller Elementary School Wednesday. The sun shined brightly on the south-facing hillside, where a bulldozer carved out a 12-foot hole.
The balls, which are actually polyethylene ground loops, were then rolled out and buried in the ditch, where they will harvest heat from underground to use in the school during the winter. In the summer, six solar thermal panels soon to be mounted on the school will replenish heat to the earth through the same tubes. The system will not only reap savings on heat for the school district but also will test a technology that is young in Fairbanks.
“I would like to see a system that would work well in the Interior and that the public can utilize and save dollars,” said Larry Morris, projects manager for the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District. The project is an experiment to see how well the systems work in tandem and to collect data on ground source heat pumps, which are common in the Lower 48 but rare in Fairbanks. Read more
March 26, 2010
From Christopher Dunagan at the Kitsap Sun: While superhot water from deep underground makes for a pretty exciting story, it’s not the only way to go. Klamath Falls, Ore., is involved in a $1.6 million project to generate electricity from what is considered “low temperature” geothermal water. Check out the story in yesterday’s edition of the online magazine Government Technology.
“The city, with its high-desert landscape, sits above natural geothermal springs, which residents have used for 100 years to heat their homes,” states the article by Russell Nichols. “Hot rocks and geysers keep the sidewalks warm when the winter comes and pump heat into buildings downtown.” The article goes on to describe a low-temperature geothermal power plant proposed for Klamath Falls that was pioneered at Chena Hot Springs in Alaska. For a description of the Chena project, involving United Technologies Corporation, see the For Your Own Power Web site. Read more
November 29, 2009
James Meyer/Alaska Center for Energy and Power
From Rindi White at the Anchorage Daily News: PALMER — Two spinning turbines dot the sky above Palmer, putting the quaint colony-era town on the forefront of a grass-roots make-your-own energy movement sweeping Alaska. One of the wind-power turbines — like a streamlined pinwheel or a futuristic windmill — stands above a local chiropractor’s office. The other is a green addition to an elementary school playground. The turbines are part of a move toward renewable energy in Alaska. Wind turbines dot rural Alaska. Solar arrays power a building in Nome. Tourists soak at Chena Hot Springs Resort, a getaway powered by geothermal energy. And increasingly, homeowners are using energy derived from the sun and wind to heat their homes, keep the refrigerator running and charge their iPhones. Read more
October 1, 2009
Indian Country Today takes a look at the search for geothermal power in the Aleutians: A geophysical survey team is using electromagnetic probes in the remote community of Akutan, Alaska to help investigate the potential of the nearby geothermal resource. If a significant resource is identified this would potentially allow the Eastern Aleutian region to realize a clean, inexpensive and reliable source of energy production. Currently, the City of Akutan (population 713) and Trident Seafoods, a large plant which operates within the community, use a combined peak of 7 MW of diesel-generated power. The city’s power cost exceeds $0.32 kWh. Development of power from the Akutan geothermal project would eliminate the dependence on diesel fuel, reduce carbon emissions and promote economic and cultural sustainability of Akutan and the region. Read more
September 15, 2009
The New York Times carried this report on Hawaii’s efforts to green its power supply. Like Alaska, Hawaii is hampered by high energy prices and having multiple electrical grid that serve widely dispersed populations.
HU, Hawaii — Two miles or so from this tiny town in the southernmost corner of the United States, across ranches where cattle herds graze beneath the distant Mauna Loa volcano, the giant turbines of a new wind farm cut through the air. Sixty miles to the northeast, near a spot where golden-red lava streams meet the sea in clouds of steam, a small power plant extracts heat from the volcanic rock beneath it to generate electricity.
These projects are just a slice of the energy experiment unfolding across Hawaii’s six main islands. With the most diverse array of alternative energy potential of any state in the nation, Hawaii has set out to become a living laboratory for the rest of the country, hoping it can slash its dependence on fossil fuels while keeping the lights on.
Read more
September 11, 2009
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, recently posted this release that included news about a $951,500 grant awarded to the City of Unalaska for geothermal work. The U.S. Department of Energy grant is directed at finding an accessible commercial grade geothermal resource at Makushin and developing a 10 to 12 MW geothermal power plant (with the ability to expand to 20MW) for the City of Unalasaka Electrical Utility. The Dutch Harbor Fisherman also posted this report recently that details some of the exploration work. The story notes the city currently relies heavily on diesel and pays about 32 cents a kilowatt hour for power, or about three times what Anchorage residents pay.
August 28, 2009
The Alaska Journal of Commerce’s Rob Stapleton had a nice profile today on REAP member Bernie Karl. Bernie is the owner of Chena Hot Springs resort and has pioneered the use of geothermal energy at the resort, located 56 miles east of Fairbanks.
June 5, 2009
Naknek Electric Association, banking on a decade of geothermal research and planning, is preparing to drill an exploration well near King Salmon, in a multi-million dollar project with potential to provide power to 28 villages in Southwest Alaska.
The project would be the first utility-grade geothermal development in Alaska. The initial cost estimate for the generation plant and 450 miles of transmission line interconnecting regional villages is $200 million, NEA officials said. The initial load would be 18 megawatts, with full potential to use 25 megawatts within two years. Estimates are that use of geothermal power could cut the cost of power production by 70 percent.
Read more.
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