View full-size video in Sentido's new video archive section... View the full-length book presentation by Lester Brown on the renewable economy to Google HQ in CA... Embedded video courtesy of Brightcove

GEOTHERMAL ENERGY CREATES HOPE FOR GLOBAL ENERGY SOLUTION
STEAM-DRIVEN PROCESS USING DEEP UNDERGROUND VENTS TO SUPER-HEAT WATER COULD BE 'NEARLY INEXHAUSTIBLE' RESOURCE
10 August 2007 :: Lainey Johr

The race to tap large quantities of underground, geothermal energy is heating up. In a recent bid to solve their country's demand for clean energy, the Swiss are digging deep, and the Earth is responding. A scientist at MIT, in the US, says 40% of US geothermal sources could power the entire country's energy needs in excess of 56,000 times.

At a cost of $51 million so far, the Swiss experiment in delving under the earth's crust has proven successful. The plan is to circulate water deep into the ground using shafts a bit larger than those used in drilling for oil, except pumping water and gaining access to high levels of heat, enough to harness the capacity to run a steam turbine and power an estimated 10,000 homes and offices.

GEOTHERMAL: WEST DIGS DEEP FOR THE NEXT BIG THING IN POWER HARNESSING GEOTHERMAL ENERGY COULD PROVIDE SUBSTANTIAL SUSTAINABLE FUEL SOURCE FOR GREEN ECONOMY 19 February 2007 :: Lainey Johr Geothermal energy is increasingly being touted by scientists and researchers as one of the most efficient and environmentally friendly sources of power available.  Currently, geothermal sources supply enough energy, 2,800 megawatts, to run 2.8 million American homes.  The potential of geothermal energy in the US is even greater than once believed, at an estimated 13,000 megawatts over the next 10 years; but only the western states of Utah, Nevada and California have active geothermal power stations. [Full Story]

The type of geothermal hot rock technology is called 'enhanced geothermal systems,' and drills into very hot granite at 400 degrees F. Even though the holes dug for these systems are deep, it only scratches the earth's surface and remains well away from the inner regions. 99% of the earth's interior is even hotter, at about 1000 degrees, where the technology is not designed to go, and where human science cannot yet reach without justfiable concerns about undesirable magma or gas leaks.

The science seems straighforward enough, but there may be a catch. In early December, the country registered a magnitude 3.4 tremor in response to Geothermal Basel's project to gain access to this untapped energy source. Coursing water through bored holes in the earth several miles deep has destabilized subsurface layers of crust causing shifts. The resulting tremors throughout the Basel region alarmed authorities enough to temporarily halt activity.

Clean and in ample supply, geothermal energy has the potential to power the current global population and much more without degrading the environment. The drawbacks include cost of drilling and stiff price competition from current fossil fuel extraction. Scientists say that certain hot rock source supplies, that cost about $7 to $8 million to drill, provide energy for only a limited amount of time, requiring a new source to be found after maybe just a decade. Aside from the setup cost, scientists estimate that costs to provide energy once the pumps are in place would be quite low, and compeitive with other forms of renewable energy.

Other countries in the race for geothermal supplies for their energy deficits include the US and Australia. According to a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) scientist, Professor Jefferson Tester, "the resource base for geothermal is enormous," adding that, as noted above, just 40% of potential geothermal resources in the US could power the entire country's energy needs more than 56,000 times over. By 2050 geothermal could outproduce the country's combined nuclear power capability and without any of the environmental costs. Despite funding the MIT study, the US Department of Energy has a limited budget of $2 million for hot rock technology and has no current allocation for more.

There is also little support from the US's largest suppliers of fossil fuels, including Chevron Corp., Exxon Mobile Corp. and American Electric Power. These energy giants are watching the progress of geothermal energy extraction but are spending zero money in the technology.

Geothermal energy is used in all over the world, in 24 different countries. [s]

• Discovery: "Energy Search Goes Underground"

TEXAS BUILDING WIND FARM INFRASTRUCTURE WITH 7,000 MEGAWATTS' CAPACITY
OIL-RICH STATE USES FORWARD-THINKING INITIATIVE TO POSITION ITSELF AS WIND-ENERGY HEAVYWEIGHT
7 August 2007 :: Lainey Johr

"A typical coal-fired power-plant is 300 megawatts", reminds the ecological researcher and author, Lester Brown. In Texas, in a demonstration of what he calls "quantum-jump thinking of what the future might look like", thy're building a wind-harvesting industry that will produce 7,000 megawatts of electricity. This is a huge advance for the economical commitment to renewable resources. [Full Story]

The dye-sensitive solar cells provide an attractive new alternative for pushing the renewable-energy economy forward, at 1/4 the cost...

PINK SOLAR CELLS CAN PRODUCE POWER AT 25% OF CURRENT COST
DYE-SENSITIVE SOLAR CELLS, DEVELOPED AT OHIO STATE UNIV., COULD BE FUTURE OF GREEN POWER
3 August 2007

As environmental groups, lobbyists and the general public push for more environmentally friendly industrial practices, scientists are finding innovative ways to bring down costs and increase the efficiency of renewable resources. The dye-sensitive solar cells (DSSC), with a pinkish sheen, now being developed at Ohio State University, are an example of the type of engineering innovation that could bring about a genuine green-power revolution. [Full Story]

BACKGROUND:

WIND ENERGY DEMAND BOOMING COST DROPPING BELOW CONVENTIONAL SOURCES MARKS KEY MILESTONE IN U.S. SHIFT TO RENEWABLE ENERGY 22 March 2006 :: Lester R. Brown When Austin Energy, the publicly owned utility in Austin, Texas, launched its GreenChoice program in 2000, customers opting for green electricity paid a premium. During the fall of 2005, climbing natural gas prices pulled conventional electricity costs above those of wind-generated electricity, the source of most green power. This crossing of the cost lines in Austin and several other communities is a milestone in the U.S. shift to a renewable energy economy. [Full Story] GREEN LIGHT FOR RENEWABLE FUELS NEW TECHNOLOGY MAKES SOLAR END-USER FRIENDLY 15 December 2005 Renewable fuels have enjoyed a lot of attention in recent months, in a market driven by escalating oil costs, strained fuel stocks, worsening environmental degradation, and promises by the G8 to reduce carbon emissions. Revelations about the vulnerabilities inherent in the fossil fuel infrastructure, together with new technological advances in wind- and solar-based power generation mean renewables are now directly competitive with traditional fuel sources. [Full Story] WIND POWER SET TO BECOME WORLD'S LEADING ENERGY SOURCE Lester R. Brown :: 25 June 2003 In 1991, a national wind resource inventory taken by the U.S. Department of Energy startled the world when it reported that the three most wind-rich states —North Dakota, Kansas, and Texas— had enough harnessable wind energy to satisfy national electricity needs. Now a new study by a team of engineers at Stanford reports that the wind energy potential is actually substantially greater than that estimated in 1991. [Full Story]

ESTALLA LA DEMANDA POR LA ENERGÍA EÓLICA PRECIOS MÁS BAJOS QUE POR FUENTES TRADICIONALES AYUDAN A ADOPTAR LA ENERGÍA RENOVABLE 22 marzo 2006 :: Lester R. Brown Cuando Austin Energy, agencia pública de la ciudad de Austin, Texas, lanzó su campaña GreenChoice en el año 2000, el cliente que quería adoptar fuentes energéticas "verdes" tenía que pagar más. Durante el otoño, la persistente subida de los precios por el gas natural hizo que superaran los precios de la energía eólica, un momento clave para el proceso de mudar economía energética del país hacia las fuentes renovables. [Texto completo] WHY WIND IS SMARTER 21 November 2005 Wind energy offers something no carbon-based fuel can offer: zero emissions, zero cleanup, local control and reasonable local supply everywhere on Earth, and it is 100% non-climate disruptive and essentially infinitely renewable. In fact, the overall global wind resource far exceeds our capacity even to harness or to use it. As of 2003, Pentagon-commissioned research had found that just 3 wind-rich midwestern states possess sufficient wind resources to power the entire US economy with existing wind-turbine technology. [Full Story] LA ENERGÍA EÓLICA SERÁ EL PRIMER RECURSO ENÉRGICO MUNDIAL Lester R. Brown :: 25 junio 2003 En 1991, un estudio del Departamento de Energía de Estados Unidos para medir los recursos eólicos nacionales sorprendió al mundo cuando demostró que los tres estados más ricos en viento —North Dakota, Kansas y Texas— poseían un recurso bastante como para satisfacer la demanda nacional para electricidad. Ahora un estudio nuevo, hecho por un equipo de ingenieros de Stanford, reporta que la energía eólica potencial supera por mucho los cálculos de 1991. [Texto completo]