Blog

Student Involvement in the Newberry EGS Demonstration

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 02:29:00 GMT

Projects like the Newberry EGS Demonstration are essential to creating a greener, more independent energy future in the U.S. That future will require an increase in the innovative technologies being developed domestically, as well as an increase in the number of skilled professionals who make such technology their prime focus.

To support the latter, AltaRock Energy and Davenport Power are engaging with students and the academic community wherever possible throughout the course of the demonstration.

Collaborating With Schools and Universities

Faculty and advanced-degree students from U.C. Berkeley, the University of Utah Energy and Geoscience Institute, Texas A&M, and Temple University are directly involved with the research assistance for the demonstration itself. AltaRock and the Department of Energy are also supporting projects involving students from Oregon State University and other interested schools.

Promoting Public Energy Literacy

Public education and outreach are important to both the Newberry EGS Demonstration and the future of alternative energy. AltaRock is currently preparing informational kiosks for the Lava Lands Visitor Center and Paulina Lake Visitor Center to help guest and visitors understand the process and purpose of the demonstration.

The video above encapsulates both student outreach and public education. Last summer, AltaRock's Will Osborn sat down with students Grace Chen of Saint Francis High School and Max Martinez of Valley Christian High School. Their summer internship explored alternative energy technologies in the San Francisco Bay Area and culminated in the video below. Congratulations to Grace and Max on their award-winning video! Their hard work will serve to encourage other young people to pursue futures in alternative energy and other innovative technologies.

A New Model for Energy Independence

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 16:55:00 GMT

This month, the Canadian Geothermal Energy Association (CanGEA) released the results of a nation-wide study of Canada’s geothermal resources. The data show a huge potential for geothermal development, which could help make cleaner, domestic power more affordable and more accessible across North America.

The research found natural geothermal resources to be widespread across the Canadian landscape, providing numerous potential locations for development. One particular finding stands out in relation to AltaRock Energy’s work with Enhanced Geothermal Systems:

“Canada has significant potential for EGS, development; as few as 100 projects could meet a significant fraction of Canada’s base load energy needs.”

This conclusion is exactly in step with the potential that EGS presents in the U.S. A landmark MIT study, which first brought EGS to mainstream awareness in 2007, suggested that EGS could provide 10% of the United States’ electricity within 50 years if the technology were properly developed.

Geothermal power is a clean, efficient, domestic, reliable, and consistent source of energy. EGS takes those benefits and makes them even more accessible by expanding the places in which geothermal heat can be harnessed and turned into power. As this most recent study shows, the opportunities for energy independence are far more prevalent than current energy production statistics would suggest. The Newberry EGS Demonstration and projects like it are essential illustrations of a new way of creating energy in North America and worldwide.

Nuclear Power Risks Prompt Shift Toward Renewables

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 02:26:00 GMT

Given the alarming nuclear emergency that unfolded in Japan earlier this year, nations the world over have been reassessing their energy plans. The question is no longer "Is nuclear energy safe?" (the answer to that question was never a resounding "yes") but rather "Is nuclear energy worth the risks?"

In truth, all sources of power come with some risk or another, but those risks run a wide scale. The disaster at Fukushima illustrates the adversity inherent in the very building blocks of nuclear power.

As the blog for the Newberry Geothermal EGS Demonstration, this forum is of course focused on the merits and development of EGS technology. However, it is not bias that supports the safety of geothermal energy compared to nuclear energy. The differences between these two extend to the fundamental principles on which they are built.

Nuclear Energy

The creation of nuclear energy relies on uranium, a naturally occurring but nonrenewable element. Most of the uranium used in the U.S. (92% in 2010)[1] is imported from other nations; while this doesn't affect the safety of the technology itself, it does reinforce reliance on foreign sources.

While advocates for nuclear power emphasize that nuclear power plants emit no carbon dioxide, they create radioactive waste that must be contained and stored ad infinitum.

Geothermal Energy

By contrast, geothermal works with the earth's natural processes rather than attempting to alter them. Geothermal energy relies on heat and water, which naturally coexist beneath the earth's crust and can be sourced 100% domestically.

Geothermal power plants do emit some carbon dioxide, but the levels are a fraction of those created by fossil fuel-based plants—and as the field develops, they're likely to drop further. Just as the Newberry Demonstration is expanding our ability to utilize the earth's heat for energy, others in the field are exploring ways to actually turn carbon dioxide into electricity using traditional geothermal techniques.

A Shift Toward Safety

Given the high-stakes risks of nuclear power, it's not surprising that many world leaders are turning away from it. In the past two months Germany, Switzerland and Italy have officially divorced themselves—and their futures—from nuclear power. Safety may be the catalyst, but in committing to this shift, these leaders are choosing energy sources that are also more reliable and more sustainable than nuclear power.

Challenging the Validity of Renewable Energy

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 02:24:00 GMT

Recently, the Bend Bulletin published a guest column written by Redmond, OR, resident Fred Allehoff. Mr. Allehoff expressed skepticism with a number of green technologies based on questions of their logistical and financial feasibility.

Many of Mr. Allehoff's points are instructive, and those working in the renewable energy field are well aware of the challenges that alternative energy sources present. These challenges are not, however, inherent to the technologies themselves, but are rather symptoms of the relative youth of these systems when compared to ages-old reliance on fossil fuels. Renewable energy is changing rapidly as engineers work to overcome these challenges and deliver increasingly competitive systems.

Hope in Geothermal

Of geothermal energy, the writer has notably few critiques, stating:

"Geothermal is cost-effective and feasible if tests preclude the possibility of resulting minor earthquakes." (Both the cost-effectiveness and potential seismicity of EGS have been previously addressed on this blog.)

Across the broad field of renewable energy, EGS is particularly well-poised to overcome the challenges Allehoff raises. Unlike new wind and solar technologies, EGS offers a way to harness far more energy from the earth—without requiring substantial changes to our existing power grid.

EGS simply allows us to tap the earth's heat more efficiently than before, to generate more power from what we already know is a clean, reliable, domestic source of energy. And given its logistical and economic advantages, EGS may well be the renewable energy source that most immediately—and most dramatically—alters the way we acquire energy in the United States and the world.

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Enhanced Geothermal Systems and water usage. Binary EGS is the answer…

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 02:21:00 GMT

It's no coincidence that most steam-turbine electricity generating plants are built close to, if not on, a river or lake? These plants require so much water that water availability is one of the top criteria when selecting a location for a new plant and an ongoing environmental concern.

Enhanced Geothermal Systems, or EGS, are a renewable energy source that utilizes steam turbines to generate electricity. However, many of the better locations for Enhanced Geothermal Systems are found in areas where water is scarce or its use is restricted. To get around these water issues, EGS employs several techniques that naturally keep water usage to an absolute minimum.

The vast majority of the water usage in conventional steam-turbine plants goes to condensing low-energy steam back into water. After giving up most of its energy, steam exiting the turbine goes into an a condenser (actually a huge heat exchanger), where cooled water absorbs heat to turn the steam back into water. The condensed water is then pressurized and returned to the boiler to be turned back into steam. The energy absorbed by the water used to condense the steam has to go somewhere either into a large body of water or into the atmosphere. Heat released to the atmosphere provides the most iconic feature of steam-turbine plants: huge plumes of steam billowing from an evaporative cooling tower.

EGS uses a closed-loop water system to extract the heat from hot rock formations underground (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhanced_geothermal_system) . Water is pumped down to the hot rock formations through an injection well and the heated water is captured through a production well or wells. The heated water is sent back down the injection well for reheating once the energy has been extracted from it on the surface.

Perhaps most interesting is the fact that in a ‘binary’ Enhanced Geothermal System a fluid other than water can also be used to power the steam turbine. The water heated by the hot rock formations in EGS often don't reach temperatures above 200°… not nearly hot enough to turn water into steam. Therefore, Enhanced geothermal Systems use what is termed a binary fluid (one with a much lower boiling temperature than water) to drive the turbine. In a binary system, the water heated underground passes through a heat exchanger on the surface where it flashes the binary fluid to a vapor (the equivalent of steam). The vaporized binary fluid then acts (as steam would) to power the turbine to generate electricity. Environmentally benign butane and pentane-based fluids are commonly used in the closed binary systems. Since these binary fluids have such a relatively low boiling temperatures, binary "steam" can be condensed in air-cooled (rather than water-cooled) condensers and that saves water use.

All of this means that in addition to being a very clean, renewable energy source, binary Enhanced Geothermal Systems are very earth-friendly when it comes to water consumption and total usage.

Drilling for our Energy Independence and EGS

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 02:18:00 GMT

A clean and renewable energy source, geothermal energy has been used to generate electricity in the U.S. for decades.

The obvious question is, "Why is so little attention given to geothermal energy?"

The simple answer is there just aren't many locations where nature has made geothermal energy easily available. Geothermal energy occurs naturally when water from surface sources like rain water, lakes or aquifers finds its way down through the earth to hot rock formations deep underground. When this water comes in contact with hot rock, hot water and steam may rise to the surface in the form of geysers or hot springs. Some of the better known natural geothermal locations are Yellowstone National Park and The Geysers in Northern California. While these locations make popular tourist attractions, they are also marvelous demonstrations of clean, renewable geothermal energy.

There are, however, many areas within the U.S. where geothermal energy could be used to generate electricity if only there was a way to get hot rock and water together. EGS in these locations could be the answer to our future energy needs.

AltaRock Energy is engaged in the development of new technology and techniques for Enhanced Geothermal Systems, or EGS for short. The concept of Enhanced Geothermal Systems is to create a geothermal reservoir by drilling a well to underground formations of hot rock, and opening natural fractures in the rock by injecting water at high pressure. By injecting water down this well, and circulating the water to similar production wells drilled nearby, the water can absorb heat from the rocks, producing hot water or steam that can be used to generate electricity. Refining EGS technology by identifying and developing natural underground formations where water can reliably flow in large quantities (and be heated to sufficient temperatures) is the real challenge.

The scientists, geologists and engineers at AltaRock Energy are hard at work perfecting Enhanced Geothermal Systems technology. You can follow the progress of the Newberry EGS Demonstration on Facebook at http://facebook.com/NewberryEGS.

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Now, You See It…But with Geothermal, You Don’t Have To

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 02:16:00 GMT

It's funny how some people advocate for more renewable energy sources…as long as they end up in someone else's backyard. The primary reason for this attitude is that renewable energy sources such as wind and solar-thermal (those acres of mirrors with a giant tower in the center) have what is termed high "visual impact." Large-scale projects using these technologies decidedly alter the landscape, or at least one's view of it.

Minimizing the visual impact of certain renewable energy technologies is often a challenge because of energy density, siting and the physical nature of the technology.

Wind turbines are a good example of the energy density challenge. It takes a huge amount of surface area to capture the relatively small amount of energy provided by the wind. Creating lots of surface area means giant wind turbine blades and lots of them. To have the same electricity-producing capability, a wind turbine farm might occupy more than a hundred square miles as compared to the few square miles of land a conventional 100 MW geothermal power plant might occupy.

Siting refers to the physical location of a generating source. Solar-thermal projects are often placed in flat, wide-open spaces to receive maximum sunlight. Wind farms are typically located in areas where with the wind is least obstructed which is often on higher elevations and hilltops.

The physical nature of wind turbines is to be tall in order to use larger blades for more surface area as well as taking advantage of stronger wind farther from the ground. The towers used in solar-thermal projects also need to be tall so that there is a direct line of sight from each of the thousands of mirrors to the thermal collector.

One emerging renewable energy source that has a relatively minimal visual impact is Enhanced Geothermal Systems or EGS.

With EGS, the energy density of hot, underground rock formations is much higher than that for wind or solar collection. Moreover, all of the energy collection essentially takes place underground. From a visual impact perspective, there isn't much of an Enhanced Geothermal System to see.

The most critical siting issue with EGS is the location of the wells for injecting water down to the hot rock formations and for recovering the hot water or steam. Once drilled, the wellheads (like large valves) and the hot water or steam gathering system pipelines are the only evidence the wells are there. The EGS electricity generating plant may be located some distance from the wellheads for practical, environmental or visual impact reasons.

The largest visible portion of an EGS electricity generating plant is the generating facility. Since Enhanced Geothermal Systems require no boiler, smoke stack, tall cooling towers (with their billows of steam) the facilities overall have a quite small footprint and a low profile compared to other conventional and renewable electricity generating installations.

These characteristics all serve to make Enhanced Geothermal Systems one of the least visually obtrusive among all of the types of electricity generating sources.

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The Economic Potential of Enhanced Geothermal Systems

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 02:14:00 GMT

AltaRock Energy's Newberry EGS Demonstration presents several opportunities in America's energy infrastructure. Most prominent is that of clean, domestic, renewable energy: something that the U.S. does not have nearly enough of, while the pressures to wean from foreign fossil fuels are higher than ever.

The other opportunities EGS offers are financial growth and jobs. The oft-quoted MIT study on EGS finds that, if appropriately developed, EGS has the potential to affordably supply one tenth of the nation's energy needs in a timeline of fifty years. This means a new, cleaner network of power sources and family wage jobs to operate them, as well as more reliable fuel prices for homes and businesses across the country. Investment in EGS'- development is essential for these goals to be achieved, and its benefits will extend beyond those who invest, to the workforce and the economy at large.

While Google.org and a few others have led the way, investment in EGS is just starting to take off. Pike Research anticipates investment in geothermal power to rise by 134% between 2010 and 2020. In 2008, geothermal energy as a whole accounted for 25,000 jobs in the U.S. Even since then, EGS has gained prominence and funding. Assuming MIT's predictions play out, Enhanced Geothermal Systems will not only provide 10% of American power in the coming decades, but a growing number of jobs and investment opportunities as well.

What is EGS? Revisiting the Basics

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 02:11:00 GMT

For those of you just learning of AltaRock Energy's Newberry EGS Demonstration – or just learning of EGS in general – here is a quick-guide to this technology and the potential it offers.

What is EGS?

EGS stands for Enhanced Geothermal Systems. Traditionally, geothermal energy can only be generated from locations where naturally occurring open cracks are filled with hot water. While many places in the U.S. have the hot rock, open cracks and water are not always present. EGS can expand the number of viable geothermal sites by opening existing fractures and adding water to already-present hot rock, cycling that water through the rock (so it is heated), and generating heat and power from that hot water, as with other geothermal sites.

How does EGS work?

This video from Google.org explains it well:

Narrator: "A well is drilled several kilometers into the earth's hot crust. Water is injected to fracture the rock, creating thousands of small pathways for water to flow and be heated. The hot water and steam are piped to the surface to power a turbine, generating electricity. The water is then recycled back into the hot rock in a continuous loop."

Can EGS be competitive with other forms of energy?

Yes. It's expected to be. Right now, EGS is still being developed, so if you compare today's numbers against technologies that have already gone through that process, you're comparing apples and oranges. A 2007 study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology determined that if EGS technology is appropriately developed, it could be supplying 10% of the nation's energy needs in less than 50 years—and doing it at a price that is competitive with non-renewable energy sources.

Who is investing in EGS development?

Yes. AltaRock Energy is a national leader in the development of EGS technology, and AltaRock's projects have seen support from some heavy hitters in the United States. Google.org has invested $6.25 million in AltaRock to develop EGS technologies and projects. And the U.S. Department of Energy selected AltaRock's Newberry EGS Demonstration to receive $21.4 million in grant funding toward the project's $43.8 million budget.

Want to learn more?

Please view other posts throughout this blog addressing topics such as the U.S.'s role in global EGS development, how EGS compares with other renewables, and what "demonstration" really means.

The Importance of Investing in R&D for a Clean Energy Future

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 02:05:00 GMT

The work underway at AltaRock's Newberry EGS Demonstration could be considered the development stage for technology with potential national application. However, some people claim that national application of clean energy is not feasible because, supposedly, such technology is not economically viable.

Development is the key word here: development is what makes innovation accessible. A concept is developed into a working model, then that model is made scalable, repeatable and increasingly more affordable. This is how new technologies become economically viable; to condemn a technology still in progress as too expensive is to compare not apples and oranges, but apples and apple seeds. It's not a viable argument.

Flat screen television is an excellent example of the difference that a little time and some rigorous development can make:

As the technology improved and the supply increased, the price for a 32-inch LCD television dropped more than four-fold in just five years. Would it have been wise to write off flat screens as too expensive to even bother producing? Hardly. They're now the market standard.

Development of Enhanced Geothermal Systems

This same principle bears out in clean energy as well, and not just in theory. In 2007, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology concluded that if the technology is appropriately developed, EGS will be capable of providing 10% of the nation's energy needs within 50 years at prices competitive with coal.

But that development is essential to get from here to there, and it takes investment. This does not mean throwing money at anything relatively sustainable. While subsidizing high-price clean energy items such as solar panels and electric cars helps individual consumers move their own lives in the right direction, true nation-wide change requires development of the systems that impact us all, such as energy supply and production.

If properly developed, Enhanced Geothermal Systems, like those being developed by AltaRock Energy, are in line to have a significant positive impact on the source and reliability of national energy—and become economically viable in the process.

Newberry Kleinfelder Independent Hydrology Review Report

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 02:02:00 GMT

Water use and Newberry EGS Demonstraton: The Kleinfelder Report provides a full review of the water usage plans for the Newberry EGS Demonstration and concluded that any direct or indirect effects on the environment were extremely unlikely.

Kleinfelder, an industry leader in environmental consulting services, has completed an independent review of AltaRock’s water usage plans for the Newberry EGS Demonstration. They confirmed that the estimated water usage during the entire Demonstration represented less than 0.3% of the annual recharge to the Newberry aquifer.

The Kleinfelder study concluded that direct or indirect effects on the environment was extremely unlikely, and recommended additions to AltaRock’s proposed environmental monitoring program to ensure that public stakeholders could verify this throughout the 3-year project.

Download the full report at http://altarockenergy.com/Newberry Kleinfelder Independent Hydrology Review Report 24Feb11.pdf

AltaRock Announces Updated Water Usage Plan for EGS Demonstration

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 01:57:00 GMT

AltaRock Energy and Davenport Power are today announcing the publication of an updated and more extensive water usage plan for the Newberry Enhanced Geothermal System Demonstration underway near Bend, Oregon.

Over the three year demonstration we expect to use 73 to 142 million gallons (223-435 acre-ft) of water produced from water wells already installed at the demonstration site. This represents about three-tenths of one percent (0.003) of the estimated annual natural recharge to the Deschutes Basin from the west flank of Newberry volcano, and thus will not impact other users of this water resource.

There are six major project events that will require the use of water:

1. Stimulation of existing well NWG 55-29

2. Single-well flow test

3. Drilling of two production wells

4. Production well connectivity tests

5. Dual well stimulation

6. Circulation test

In addition to walking readers through the project timeline above, the full Newberry Water Usage Plan breaks the data down for assessment from various angles:

Maximum, minimum, and combined estimated water usage
Water usage by month and year
Duration and amount of water usage for each major event

The report also explains the use of tracer and diverter materials that will be used to determine fluid pathways and to guide the stimulation to the existing, natural fracture zones.

Just as the recent Seattle Seahawks game helped put the Richter scale in context, consider this: According to the Bend Bulletin, "on the peak summer day in 2007, the city of Bend used 27 million gallons of water," which puts the demonstration's water usage requirements (all of which are one-time-only uses) at just a few day's worth of Bend's water consumption.

Water usage has been a topic of interest among citizens who attended a successful public forum series last fall. To review this report in detail, the public is welcome to download the Newberry Water Usage Plan directly through AltaRock's website.

Seismic Report Addendum Addresses Community Questions

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 01:53:00 GMT

Predicted Ground Shaking Map: Click to Download Addendum for Additional Information

See the addendum to the recently released Seismic Report compiled by independent consultant URS Corporation, which answers questions posed by concerned citizens in our community meetings.

They constructed a 'shake map' showing that an upper range seismic event that might be occur during our demonstration of innovative hydroshearing techniques to create a geothermal reservoir will produce only moderate shaking to a distance of about 2.5 miles, but that no damage to any structures or natural features is expected.

This is great news, and we at AltaRock hope this encourages the pubic to continue to support the development of EGS and clean, renewable geothermal power for America.

Newberry EGS Demonstration: Recovery Act Helps Move Energy Forward

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 01:28:00 GMT

One tenet of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 is to finance developments contributing to the nation's future economic growth. Specific to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the act addressed seven areas: energy efficiency, environmental clean-up, modernizing the electric grid, carbon capture and storage, transportation, science and innovation, and renewable energy.

Investments were distributed as such:

Of the $1.64 billion designated for renewable energy, $350 million was devoted to geothermal energy, and of that, $68.2 million is contributing to enhanced geothermal systems technology research and development. The Newberry EGS Demonstration being conducted by AltaRock Energy is the largest and most technologically comprehensive of the seven EGS demonstrations across five states selected to receive funding.

Of the $43.8 million required for this project, $21.4 million will be funded through the Recovery Act grant, and $22.4 million will be funded by the AltaRock Energy-Davenport Newberry partnership directly. In addition to the demonstration, Davenport Newberry has been awarded $5 million to validate an innovative exploration technology that allows scientists to identify previously-undiscovered geothermal resources.

Why does this project matter? Why now? A 2007 study conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology predicts that if EGS technology is appropriately developed, it will be able to provide 10% of the nation's electricity needs in just 50 years—and do so at a price on par with non-renewably sourced fuels. And geothermal is a direct replacement for the fossil fuels currently powering the country – geothermal power stations run 24/7, unlike wind and solar, and so provide a renewable source of clean, baseload electricity.

But technology development must come first. By investing in the Newberry EGS Demonstration, the Department of Energy supports innovation that has the potential to significantly alter the United States' energy landscape. Our energy, our economy, and our self-reliance as a nation are inextricably linked, and the work underway at AltaRock's Newberry EGS Demonstration is a valuable component of this much-needed progress.

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Score One for the ‘Hawks

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 01:25:00 GMT

One concern occasionally voiced by those new to the Newberry EGS Demonstration is that of potential seismic activity, or tiny earthquakes, triggered by the demonstration's operations. "Seismic activity" sounds scary, but most people have very little feel for how the Richter scale corresponds to real-life events.

Take, for example, the Seattle Seahawks' recent upset of the New Orleans Saints, heralded by ESPN as "one of the most unlikely upsets in playoff history." When Marshawn Lynch ran for a 67-yard touchdown with 3:22 left in the game, Seahawks fans, understandably excited, cheered and stomped and jumped with so much gusto that the actually registered on a nearby seismometer.

The vibration was similar to that of a magnitude 1 or 2 (M=1 or M=2) earthquake, according to John Vidale, director of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network, who paired the seismometer's readings with a timeline of the game's major plays:

Microseismic events related to the Newberry EGS demonstration are expected to be smaller than M=2, meaning gentler than 66,000 elated Seahawks fans stomping their feet.

For a more scientific look at microseismicity involving the Newberry Enhanced Geothermal Systems Demonstration, see the independent Induced Seismicity and Seismic Hazards Risk Analysis that was completed by URS Corporation late last year.