Google Goes Geothermal With New Clean Energy Investments

[Dover]

2008, 2:18 pm
Google Goes Geothermal With New Clean Energy Investments
Posted by Keith Johnson
Jessica E. Vascellaro reports:

The search engine’s philanthropic arm, Google.org, is investing $10.25 million in a pair of companies working on “enhanced geothermal systems”—basically running water through hot rocks to get steam for electricity.

It’s the latest push in Google’s plan to develop renewable energy that’s cheaper than coal, and which has already led to $30 million in wind and solar investments.

Enhanced geothermal has some advantages, Google says. “The wind doesn’t always blow and the sun doesn’t always shine,” said Dan Reicher, Google.org’s director of Climate and Energy Initiatives, in an interview. “EGS is 24/7.”

Geothermal technology’s been around for a while. But the traditional approach relies on naturally occuring hot pockets under the earth in select areas, like in Iceland and Northern California. EGS, on the other hand, can be done almost anywhere there’s heat under the surface. (Here’s Google’s video on how it works, and where you can find a map of EGS resources in the U.S.)

..snip..

The potential looks huge, Mr. Reicher notes. He said a recent MIT report on EGS estimates that just 2% of the sub-surface heat in the U.S. at reasonable drilling depths would provide 2,500 times the country’s total annual energy use...cont'd

http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapital/2008/08/19/google-goes-geothermal-with-new-clean-energy-investments/

[madokie]

1. Of all the other schemes for base load I like this one the best