Buffett, Google Invest In Prolific Renewable You've Never Heard Of

"There's no smoke. Very little noise," said Paul Thomsen, director of policy and business management for Ormat Technologies Inc., which owns the operation. "People don't even know it's here."

Geothermal energy may be the most prolific renewable fuel source that most people have never heard of. Although the supply is virtually limitless, the massive upfront costs required to extract it have long rendered geothermal a novelty. But that's changing fast as this old-line industry buzzes with activity after decades of stagnation.

Billionaire Warren E. Buffett has invested big. Internet giant Google Inc. is bankrolling advanced research. Entrepreneurs are paying record prices for drilling leases in places such as Nevada, where they're prospecting for heat instead of metals.

Read the full story here

-OR-

::Google Throws $10 Million At Geothermal
::A Guide To Geothermal Energy
::US Department of Energy to Invest $90 Million in Advanced Geothermal Research

Comments

[research]

Please search:

Geothermal Earthquakes

[Russycle]

I find it interesting that the article mentions how silent the plant is. There's a geothermal plant on the island of Hawaii, and when I lived there there were many complaints about noise and emissions (volcanic gasses) from the plant. That was 15 years ago, I suppose things could have improved.

[Punkynsnow]

Just a general observation: There are a total of 2 pages of comments here about alternative energy sources, a subject of vital importance to our nation's future.

There are 143 pages of comments about the fact that Sarah Palin didn't know that Africa is a continent and not a giant country. While I realize that the former VP candidate's lack of knowledge is spectacular and she's a tempting target, she is yesterday's news. She has become irrelevant, thankfully, for the time being at least.

It sure would be nice if folks would focus that much attention on how we can solve our energy problems. Hey, at least discuss it and share ideas and information. I know it's not a very sexy or salacious topic, but it's damn important to our country and its future.

[NoToGOP08]

Sometimes one reads articles and just absorbs information. Sometimes folks are so angry they have to comment. I am one of those....I read and absorb all the 'green' articles, but mostly comment in Palin articles because she p i s s e s me off that much.

[Shrinath]

IMHO most huffpost readers do care about the environment. Though most would not be inclined to comment on the blogs or news about technology. The unique selling proposition of President Elect Obama was his views on Energy and technology. I was a Hillary supporter before I heard his views.
As long as people adopt some sort of energy conservation right now, we should all be coming along nicely. And i am confident that this government will do its best to invest in research and development in alternate fuels for energy.

[skantea]

Try this, ask a hundred people what's the biggest issue america faces, and I'll be shocked if more than two reference the end of oil.
It's just not on the publics map.
THANKS Big Oil Owned MSM!

[newshawk14]

I have one suggestion to add, any operation that uses steam driven turbines to generate
electricity, needs industries sited with it that can use the lower grade heat emitted by the
turbines as process heat for their operations. It results in much higher overall efficiency.

[mamacat]

There is something very wrong when the richest among us are those we rely on to develop energy sources. Traditionally, the federal government has been behind massive projects to change the way we do things, not wealthy individuals or corporations. Can one imagine what would have happened if we had had to depend on Buffet and Pickens and Google to build the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Grand Coulee Dam, the Manhattan Project, the Apollo Missions, and the national Highway System? It would have taken centuries to accomplish, if it ever got done at all.

[Hawka]

Hey, I'm willing to play ball with anyone if what they have is a good idea and will help get the job done. Time to put aside biases and come together on the important issues that matter to everyone, it needs all the help it can get and we need results already.

[prog]

We have a National Renewable Energy Laboratory, established by Jimmy Carter, that's been systematically starved and ignored since Reagan took office.

Let's give it the resources that we gave the Apollo program or the Manhattan Project and we'll be energy independent in LESS than 10 years.

[Punkynsnow]

Bravo! I second that idea! Plus it would put our best scientific minds to use in a higher purpose, for the common good.

[Punkynsnow]

I'd like to get some feedback on a potential alternative energy source-- anaerobic methane digesters. Take solid waste (human, livestock) and decompose it in enclosed chambers without the presence of oxygen. The methane gas rises to the top where it can be tapped off, leaving by-products of non-potable water, (useful for irrigation) and solid matter that could be used as fertilizer.

This was something I'd studied about in the early '70s, haven't heard anyone mentioning it in recent years.

Comments? Anyone doing anything with this technology?

[mamacat]

Why decompose it anerobically? What is the advantage of that? There are many projects to siphon off methane gas from waste sites.

There is also a project underway to develop a way to produce oil from plant byproducts by heating them up to high temps without the presence of Oxygen. I am not allowed to mention names, as I have invested in one such.

[Punkynsnow]

Thanks for your response. The idea of an anaerobic system is to contain and control. There is no odor from the decomposition process or loss of methane-- it all gets siphoned off the top of the tanks to be either compressed and stored or used directly.

In theory, it would be an ideal system for a livestock farm or small community. In a community system, all the waste would be channeled to the system. The methane could be used to generate electricity for the community, and the non-potable water could be used for irrigating public grounds (or even lawns). The solid by-products could be used as fertilizer for non-agricultural purposes. I would think if there were excess energy generated it could be sold back to the grid.

I believe there were some small farms using this type of self-sustaining technology on an experimental basis back in the 70s, but I've heard nothing about it since. I think they even used the methane to run farm equipment. Would love to know if anyone is doing anything with this idea.

[Punkynsnow]

Pt. 2. What is nice about this is that it's self-sustaining, it's local, and it doesn't require huge investments from large corporations. It would create jobs and keep energy costs low. It's eco-friendly and doesn't require acres of equipment (like wind farms) or massive up-front costs like geothermal. The initial outlay for the community of constructing the plant could be funded by bonds, and eventually it would pay for itself.

BTW, love the name mamacat!

[Coyote2]

What you are talking about is first generation methane production as used by Chinese farmers for decades

What is new is a process that that converts the waste into a stable charcoal which is much better than fertilizer, fuel and saleable product (if I am remembering properly) I will have to dig for it, but I have a link and info here somewhere.

The cool thing is that this is a small industrial process that can be located near sources of waste and owned by a cooperative of farmers and it will supply not only their energy needs but income.

[littlepitcher]

The world's richest man has just closed a factory in a small town on the AL-GA border and put 400 or so out of work, has laid off another 400 or so in other locations in a low-income, low-wage region. Most of the laid off are American--his companies in this area hire many illegals and the reports I get indicate that illegals are not suffering layoffs.
American workers are a real renewal resource, and Buffett's sending them to the economic landfill.

More welfare, more food stamps, more uninsured hospital bills. Buffett has finished capitalizing his gains out of his carpeterias and now we, the taxpayer, get to socialize his losses.

[dawnRSA]

the other great renewable clean energy is the tides of the ocean. america has enough coastline to power all its cities with this source alone.... as does the rest of the world

so to warren and google - go check it out!

[KillTheMessenger]

There is nothing clean about most forms of tidal energy systems, especially not those which have to be anchored near the shore. Coastlines are rare and highly sensitive ecosystems which are already stressed to the breaking point in many places. You add all that machinery to that and you can forget about most of the species living in these areas.

[Shrinath]

We know far less about our marine ecological systems than we do about outer space. So it would be dangerous to adapt something without proper research and its possible effects.

[johnnyjust]

It's as renewable as oil. Abiotics proven true.

[KillTheMessenger]

Nice trolling, johnny.

[BBackSoon]

KillTheMessenger,

So once we got to the bottom of that long string we are both in agreement that something needs to happen with this technology. Thanks for the info and the outline of some of the obstacles.

While I may not always agree with you I will say you always make intelligent points.

Thanks,

BBackSoon

[KillTheMessenger]

The sad part is that we could have invested more in geothermal, like in any other quasi-renewable technology, years ago. That we didn't is not the result of a hard technological problems but simply one of poor judgment. I don't think that geothermal power generation will add as much to the solution as many hope, but it can add something non-trivial on a rather small footprint (when compared to wind and solar which have much lower density). And one should not forget that geothermal heat pumps might actually have the bigger impact in the end. Energy saved is, after all, just as good as energy generated cleanly.

[Tom Christianson]

Geothermal energy is using the Earth as a giant "Heat Exchanger". Water is pumped in and Steam comes out. Electricity is produced by Steam Turbines attached to Generators.

It is also possible to have a "coal-fired" boiler produce steam to run the Turbine Generators. The Exhaust Gas (which normally gets vented into the atmosphere) can be recycled in a "closed loop" by way of a biological scrubber (CO2 absorbed, O2 released) and returned to the air inlet of the boiler.

Electrical Companies like Geothermal Energy because they have to be big (500 - 1000 MegaWatt). A small (one megawatt) Zero Emission steam turbine can be built almost anywhere, so the need for huge high voltage power lines will not be required.

Hopefully, Obama's energy advisors (Robert Kennedy Jr?) see past the hype. A distributed network of say 100,000 small electrical plants is way better for National Security and the environment than 1000 super large electrical plants.

[LaurieLee]

The largest geothermal field in the world is up at The Geysers, in far northern Sonoma County, California. The electricity at my ranch all comes from there. It is a geologically very active area, with probably thirty or forty small earthquakes a week.

[SeanGardner]

Something to invest in just before Obama takes office. Because when he does take office, renewable stocks are going to skyrocket.

[johnnyjust]

The market always looks ahead, about six months. So what did the market do today in response to his election?

Dow down 486 points.

Wall St. is not enthused with Obama.

[research]

Nah, they just realized they have 11 more months of Bush.

[HKMutua]

The national power generation company in Kenya, East Africa (KENGEN) has two geothermal power stations operating in the Rift Valley, which is a seismically active region.

Check out http://www.kengen.co.ke/ for more information.