January 26, 2007—The thermal energy stored in the Earth’s crust could be converted into electricity to provide a substantial portion of future US power needs, probably at competitive prices and with minimal environmental impact, according to a new study.
Sponsored by DOE and led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a 21-member expert panel released a report that examined the potential to tap into the heat in Earth’s crust and convert it into electricity. The report found the potential to generate 100,000 megawatts of power from geothermal resources within 50 years. That’s roughly one-tenth of the total generating capacity that exists in the United States today.
While today’s geothermal power plants draw from underground reservoirs of hot, permeable rock containing significant amounts of water or steam, the MIT-led panel specifically examined enhanced geothermal system (EGS) technology, which involves creating such geothermal reservoirs in areas that lack either the water or the permeability, or both. Such technologies were previously tested by DOE in New Mexico and are currently being explored in Europe and Australia.
The report recommends more detailed and site-specific assessments of the US geothermal resource, followed by several field trials at prime locations that would run for three to five years as a demonstration of the EGS technology. Download the full report from the DOE Web site.
