Geothermal: It’s not just for Northern Nevada

[ljm2002]

There's a very interesting article in today's Las Vegas Sun:

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/apr/08/geothermal-its-not-just-northern-nevada/

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“The Las Vegas Valley is ideal for geothermal,” said Stuart Lyle, project manager for EnLink Geoenergy, a California geothermal contractor working on several Southern Nevada projects.
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The economic and environmental benefits of such projects have been studied by the Energy Department, which found they can lower energy bills up to 70 percent. The Environmental Protection Agency described geothermal heat pumps as “the most energy efficient, environmentally clean and cost effective space conditioning systems available.”
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Although they are more expensive to install than traditional systems, savings are typically realized within two to five years of a project being completed. Savings come quicker in bigger buildings.
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No transmission lines are needed, and the systems put no demand on the grid. The energy is also more reliable than solar or wind power because it’s not weather-dependent. And it produces no greenhouse gas emissions.
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The article cites existing projects in Las Vegas and Pahrump, so it is proven technology. Very interesting!

[LAGC]

1. Geothermal is definitely one of the cleaner energy sources out there.

It's continuous/reliable unlike wind and solar, but its not always available on any level of scale where most urban areas need it.

Here in Boise, Idaho, a good part of our city heats their buildings directly with "warm springs" channeled through pipes. Seems like direct heating is more practical than trying to build turbines to convert that heat into electricity, but it certainly helps offset more traditional sources of mass-energy production none-the-less.

I definitely support more development in this area.

[ljm2002]

3. Well this article is about using ground temperature...

...not about hot springs and the like. It contrasts the geothermal used in Northern Nevada, where they do have hot springs and the like, to Southern Nevada, where they dig in 300 feet or so and use the constant temperature of the earth that far down to dramatically lessen the energy load. They do use water but it is just a one time deal, the water is put in a closed system and used for the heat transfer process.

So by my reading, this should be widely available.

[IDemo]

4. I lived at the (then) Central Park apartments years ago

The heat was free geothermal hot water and unbeatable for quality and quiet.

[XemaSab]

2. We need more of that action here in Northern California

I can see two major volcanoes and several minor volcanoes from my house. Why isn't geothermal powering Siskiyou, Modoc, Lassen, Plumas, Shasta, and Tehama Counties? :shrug:

[Throckmorton]

5. Geysers Park is powering some of it.

I did start-up work at the SMUDGEO plant in the early 1980's, and the now decomissioned Coldwater Creek CCPA Plant in the late 1980's. A steam quality and supply problem doomed the CCPA Plant to a short life.