530 Gigawatts of Geothermal Power Waits to be Tapped: US Geological Survey
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 09.30.08
Geothermal power plant in Iceland. Photo: Trey Ratcliff
We’ve heard competing claims about how much geothermal power potential exists in various parts of the world. Recent statements about Australia’s geothermal potential seem incredible: Tapping 1% of it could yield 26,000 years of energy. Obviously more questions are posed by the statement then are resolved. Well, the US Geological Survey has released a new study which estimates more soberly the US’s geothermal potential. It's still substantial, but could be hard to get at it:
Bulk of Geothermal Potential From Non-Conventional Sources
According to USGS, the United States has the potential to generate just shy of 530 GW of electricity from geothermal power. Currently the US has tapped into about 2.5 GW of that and a further 7.5 GW could be developed from conventional, identified geothermal sources. An addtional 30 GW may be developed from unidentified conventional geothermal sources. The remainder of this resource’s potential in the US would come from unconventional geothermal systems (presumably tapped by the type of geothermal technology Google has recently backed).
Geothermal in Perspective
To put all of this in some perspective, the 2.5 GW of geothermal capacity the US has generates about 15,000 GWh of electricity (about 25% of the US’s non-hydro renewable energy), while total US electric generation stands at a bit over 4,055,000 GWh annually.
via :: Cleantech
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To put that in perspective and do the math and convert the 40 GW mentioned above (2.5 GW + 7.5 GW + 30 GW) to GWh at the rate listed for the 2.5 GW cited (~68% - I'd guess that this is either due to limited uptime or efficiency of conversion) that means that all of the conventional sources mentioned above (2.5 GW existing, 7.5 GW from identified sources and another 30 GW from unidentified, conventional sources combined) would only yield ~4% of our current 4 million GWh annual use. At the full potential, using "unconventional" sources (i.e. we don't know how we'd do it), of 530 GW, it could give up to 54%
looks like I'll have to revise happily upward. For an interactive map of the geothermal resource without having to use google earth, check out: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/09/530-gigawatts-geothermal-power-potential-united-states.php#comments
Meaning that if we tapped all of the geothermal power available, it would account for 75% of the total US electricity usage.
530 / 2.5 = 212
212 * 15000 = 3.18 million GWh
Am I wrong?
530 GW is impressive. Very cool.
Does that mean 530 GW renewably? That is, does heat well up from further down in the crust fast enough that extracting it at this rate won't cause the rock to cool down over a span of decades or centuries?
After all these surveys I think the most important thing we can try to legislate now is rebuilding the countries grid. The best options on power generation are worthless without a newer grid that will allow power transmission over longer distances and possibly include storage options as well.
I erred in my interactive map link: http://blogs.edf.org/climateatlas/2008/07/14/enhanced-geothermal100-gigawatts-of-energy-waiting-to-be-tapped/
That's what I wanted you to click on!
Our current (no pun intended) electricity generation is about 4.15GWH, so geothermal could represent a HUGE chunk out of the pie.
And the earth's heat is highly renewable...if you count billions of years for the sun to slowly morph into a red giant.
The American midwest could become the Saudi Arabia of the USA.
With all the geothermal potential near Yellowstone, and wind power potential, the middewstern states could easily supply 100% of the power needs of the entire USA, Mexico, and even sell power to Canada.
Of course, they would need an upgraded power grid ...
(now what presidential candidate wants to go for this sort of future?)
It would be very doable to power the western third of the US 'baseload' which is what coal & nukes do now, and then use solar & wind for peak power - what natural gas does now. By popular geophysical models it won't last forever (the Sun won't either) but it will last many times longer than recorded history.
US map - the active area runs along the coast up into AK
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/geothermal/geomap.html
EU area map
http://ec.europa.eu/research/energy/nn/nn_rt/nn_rt_geo/article_1134_en.htm
Just a note here, the oldest production geothermal plant in the world is in Italy. It's been producing for almost a century and costs about $0.01/kwh = 1/15th the average cost of power in the US.
Not trying to provoke anyone - but just imagine if the 700 Billion was put toward making the US free from nonrenewable resources?
It boggles my mind when I think of what that type of commitment would really mean and how it would shape US foreign policy.
Not trying to stir the pot or be partisan in any way - just thinking of the possibilities. Sort of like the FDR New Deal but for energy self sufficiency.
Cheers - Eric
Hmm, I'd only need 1.1 to go back and stop the election fraud in 2000........
(It's funny, don't nitpick it.)