New Geothermal Heat Extraction Process To Deliver Clean Power Generation

A new method for capturing significantly more heat from low-temperature geothermal resources holds promise for generating virtually pollution-free electrical energy. Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory will determine if their innovative approach can safely and economically extract and convert heat from vast untapped geothermal resources.

The goal is to enable power generation from low-temperature geothermal resources at an economical cost. In addition to being a clean energy source without any greenhouse gas emissions, geothermal is also a steady and dependable source of power.

“By the end of the calendar year, we plan to have a functioning bench-top prototype generating electricity,” predicts PNNL Laboratory Fellow Pete McGrail. “If successful, enhanced geothermal systems like this could become an important energy source.” A technical and economic analysis conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology estimates that enhanced geothermal systems could provide 10 percent of the nation’s overall electrical generating capacity by 2050.

Read more . . .

Related articles by Zemanta

• New geothermal heat extraction process to deliver clean power generation (scienceblog.com)
• Cheaper Geothermal (technologyreview.com)

Random Posts:

• Spotlight on Science Diplomacy
• Rubber sheets harness body movement to power electrical devices
• The Oil Man Cometh
• Street Smarts: The BioBus Brings a Rolling Science Lab to Resource-Strapped Schools
• Nubrella – the hands-free space helmet-like umbrella

Related posts:

1. Mines Could Provide Geothermal Energy
2. Proposed Extraction Process May Have Economic, Environmental Benefits
3. Bacteria Power: Future For Clean Energy Lies In ‘Big Bang’ Of Evolution
4. Mighty microbes might help clean up oil extraction and radioactive wastes
5. Nano-breakthrough: Dramatic Increase In Thermoelectric Efficiency Heralds New Era In Heating, Cooling And Power Generation

Tags: clean energy, energy scientists, energy source, enhanced geothermal systems, generating electricity, geothermal heat, greenhouse gas emissions, Innovation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, pacific northwest national laboratory, power generation

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 26th, 2009 at 9:44 am and is filed under NY Times, Project Energy, Science Digest / Science Daily. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.