To those experiencing hardship or have lost someone to COVID-19, our hearts and wishes go out to you. An unexpected byproduct of COVID-19, for all its devastation, is that we can see what a beautiful planet we live on. The skies are bluer, we glimpse people walking their dog. And then, contrast this to the crash we see in oil. Today, on Earth Day, we have choice: do we pursue industries of the future, or [...]
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) recently reported that California continues to gain on its goal of curtailing its overall production of greenhouse gases (GHGs). California has already achieved its 2020 target for reducing GHGs with four years to spare, and reduced such gases even further again in the past year. Primarily, California is ahead of schedule for reducing GHG emissions from the generation of electricity, but it is continuing to fall farther behind on [...]
Geothermal resources were first used to generate electricity in Larderello, Italy in 1911. Continuing exploration has led to the discovery and development of additional geothermal resources, although, many of these geothermal areas lack the high quality required to be cost competitive. Much of the research and development focuses on developing generators that can operate economically with lower quality resources. The geothermal resources currently in use are mostly lacking in both the quantity and quality [...]
By adopting Senate Bill 100, California’s state government raised its goal for the Renewable Portfolio Standard to 100% in 2045. California has one of the highest goals in the United States. The recent increase was immediately met with some skepticism, and even scoffing, from critics despite not taking effect for over 25 years. Increasing wind and solar power could have negative effects on the environment so projects necessary to reach this goal may not [...]
Happy Earth Day – Fossil fuels or nuclear power have been used to provide continuous electricity to fulfill our needs. Wind and solar power are newer sources, but they only work when it’s sunny or windy. An additional source is needed to fill in when sun or wind are not available. Natural gas has been used as a fuel, but like coal and oil, it also produces greenhouse gas. Geothermal energy is a renewable source [...]
Hydrogen Production Through Electrolysis of Water One way to produce hydrogen for transportation fuel is through the technique of electrolysis. In the past, electrolysis has been too inefficient and too expensive to be economically competitive. However, research shows that electrolysis is more efficient when conducted with water existing in a supercritical state. This requires that it is both hotter than 374C and at a pressure above 220 bar (a “bar” is very close to [...]
Geothermal Energy to Balance the Grid Our previous post discussed the need for a constant, reliable, and renewable energy source. This transformative source will help balance the intermittent renewable energy of wind and solar, that increasingly dominates the production of current electricity needs. In contrast to inconsistent renewable energy sources, geothermal energy provides baseload generation of electricity, capable of supplying dependable power to meet demand. Geothermal holds an estimated availability factor of 92%, which [...]
For Geothermal, Renewable Hydrogen is the Key Welcome to our first post in a ground-breaking series about pure, clean, renewable hydrogen. It may seem unusual to mention hydrogen when we are really talking about geothermal energy, but hydrogen will become an important part in the fight against greenhouse gases. Imperative, perhaps. If we are going to keep our campaign on track, it’s necessary to realize that clean hydrogen is a key player in the [...]
Current efforts to reverse climate change and avoid further environmental consequences are failing. Recent developments are not harnessing renewable resources rapidly enough to achieve the changes that are required to stop global warming. Although the leaders of the “G-7” (the seven developed nations with the largest economies) recently announced that their countries would adopt 100% renewable portfolio standards, five of the seven countries have actually increased their use of fossil fuels in the past [...]
The Geothermal Energy Association recently sent a letter to its members enclosing a study by the GEA on “Firm and Flexible Power Services Available from Geothermal Facilities.” We agree with the main theme of the GEA study, which is that geothermal generation of electricity must be combined with wind and solar power, and provide the balancing energy or other ancillary services that the grid requires when significant amounts of intermittent renewables are used, thereby enabling [...]
