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"The Chilean government has set its sights on significantly increasing its geothermal energy capacity. The Ministry of Energy recently announced a new contract for the development of 20 areas by 2012. 70 bids from 13 domestic and foreign firms were submitted for the rights to exploit the newly released regions of Rarapacos and Los Ricos. Earlier in the year, Energy Minister Ricardo Raineri announced more than 170 concessions for geothermal energy by 2012. He further specified that these concessions would be supported by US$200 million in funding from the government. The country is striving to increase its geothermal capacity to 1,000 megawatts in order to meet an ever-growing energy demand in a sustainable manner"

"The Silver State-based company has developed the Faulkner 1, a 49.5 MW geothermal power project at NGP's Blue Mountain site in northwestern Nevada. Currently, the project is planning two new injection wells to enhance the distribution of injected fluids and further augment the plant's power output. As such, the DOE is acting as loan guarantor for up to 80 percent of the $98.5 million loan to NGP for the scheme. As part of the Obama administration's Recovery Act, alternative energy has seen a real increase in investment with projects such as the Cape Wind Farm being finalized. Recent tragedies such as the Gulf of Mexico oil spill have only solidified support for alternative energy. Geothermal projects haven't dominated headlines like solar and wind projects have, but US Senator Harry Reid hopes to see that change. Speaking about the DOE's support, Senator Reid said, "I am glad to see economic recovery funding being used to put Nevadans to work on a project that will help us achieve energy independence" He went on to say, "Northern Nevada is the Saudi Arabia of geothermal energy.""

Geothermal energy has a lot of potential worldwide. As it is not dependent on many factors, geothermal energy could be the cleanest power source of near future. Two scientists from University of Oviedo, Spain, have concluded that geothermal energy could be provided by mine shafts.

Capturing energy from the earth's heat is pretty easy pickin's for geologically-active areas of the world like Iceland, Indonesia, and Chile. In some locations, hot fluids are so near the earth's surface that heat from naturally-occurring hot fluids can be directly circulated through buildings for heating. Iceland, in particular, takes advantage of this low-hanging energy fruit. However, in most areas of the world where geothermal energy is captured, the heat is used to generate electricity. Conventional Geothermal Energy Unlike some of the more common alternative energies - hydro, solar, and wind - geothermal is impervious to weather conditions. This independence means it provides excellent base load electricity. Currently all commercial geothermal electricity is generated by so-called conventional systems, whereby naturally- occurring hot water or steam is accessed at comparatively shallow depths in areas of very high geothermal gradient. Wells are commonly drilled to depths on the order of 2 km. The water or steam they produce is used to spin turbines that in turn generate electricity.

Geothermal energy is in the dock in Germany, but some scientists are pleading for leniency. A government panel is investigating claims by the geological survey for the state of Rhineland-Palatinate that a geothermal plant triggered a magnitude-2.7 earthquake on 15 August in the town of Landau in the state. If the panel finds against the company that built the plant, Geo X of Landau, it could be shut down. Geothermal plants work by pumping water into hot rocks several kilometres down, forcing small cracks in the rock to expand. Steam escapes through the cracks to the surface, where it drives a turbine, producing clean energy. But critics say the process increases the risk of earthquakes. "Any process that injects pressurised water at depth into rocks will cause them to fracture and possibly trigger earthquakes," says Brian Baptie, an earthquake specialist at the British Geological Society.

A relatively rare story on geothermal energy. The potential of this technology is largely unknown - estimates vary tremendously. But with a potential to provide baseload electricity, this source may just have a role to play in the wind/PV/CSP electricity system of the future.

In order to do this, scientists from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, WA, announce they developed a new type of heat extracting liquid that could absorb much better the heat coming from the hot water in the geothermal wells.

Geothermal resources have been successfully utilized in many locations worldwide with significant economic rewards, but geothermal energy for electrical power is currently an untapped, power source in the Canadian energy market and specifically in Canadian oilfield operations. At present, this hot water resource is readily available through the existence of numerous deep, end-of-life oil and gas wells in the Canadian Foothills and the use of the hot water resource for electricity production has the potential to increase energy efficiency and offer carbon offsets for the oil and gas companies.

Before I was introduced to EnLink Geoenergy Services in 2000, I had never heard of geothermal heat pumps (GHPs), even though I had been in the energy industry for almost 15 years then, and even though GHP systems had been in successful operational service for over 50 years by that time.

Over 100 confirmed and unconfirmed geothermal projects alone could add 4,000 MW of power capacity within a few years time, according to the latest survey by the GEA. A new survey, which should incorporate more projects inspired by the renewal of federal tax incentives, should be ready by February or March, according to Karl Gawell, the executive director of the association.

Top Reasons to Install a Geothermal Energy System

This pan-European program also aims to develop geothermal techniques adapted to producing very hot water - around 80°C - to replace electric water heaters, which have high energy consumption.

Is the geothermal market about to boom? It is one of the more difficult renewables to harvest. It requires exploration to find good resources. It needs deep drilling which is complex. There is a risk for imcreased seismic activity which is unknown. But if all can be addressed, it offers baseload electricity. The only other renewable that does this is hydropower.

Geothermal in the Oil Field Symposium August 18-19, 2010 Casper, Wyoming Thank you to everyone who attended the first Geothermal in the Oil Field Symposium. We hope that you enjoyed your time in Casper. If you have questions or need more information about the symposium, Contact Us.

Conventional geothermal power taps hot water rising naturally to the surface from shallow beds of volcanic rock. By contrast, hot rock, or engineered geothermal systems, depend on heating water by circulating it through rock as far down as 5 kilometres,