Geothermal industry in United States - Current and future outlook

The US geothermal industry is expanding into new regions with the support of increased funding and technological advancements. Up to 18,900 MW of potentially exploitable geothermal resources were discovered in West Virginia in 2010. The development of coproduced geothermally heated water from hydrocarbon production has led to a number of oil and gas geothermal coproduction projects in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and North Dakota.

In the past year the Department of Energy (DOE) funded geothermal research, development, and demonstration projects in 50 states, including DOE’s Geothermal Technologies Program which received over $50 million in support and completed action on its nearly $400 million in Recovery Act grants.

Congress extended the Section 1603 Tax Credit program created by the stimulus bill for another year; bipartisan legislation extending the 30% Investment Tax Credit for new geothermal projects through 2016 was introduced in both the House and Senate, and legislation restoring payments to counties from geothermal bids and royalties was approved by the House and will hopefully pass the Senate.

“In both the House and Senate, key geothermal supporters won re-election, several by significant margins,” said Gawell. “We believe this shows that their efforts to support more clean, domestic geothermal power production were recognized by their constituents.”

The US geothermal industry is working with collaborative state and regional efforts, as well as other renewable groups, to ensure transmission networks and policies support new geothermal development. The Western Electricity Coordinating Council and the Western Governors’ Association have over $25 million in DOE funding to develop 10 and 20-year transmission plans for the Western Interconnection. GEA also publicly opposed California Proposition 23, which was defeated by California voters in November.

As 2011 unfolds there will be a new surge in geothermal power projects. Around 500 to 700 MW of power projects should enter their final construction phase, adding approximately 3,000 construction jobs. The geothermal sector is also growing in diversity, with almost half of federal stimulus awards going to non-industry entities such as colleges and universities; cities, counties, and other state and local institutions; tribal entities; and The Department of Energy’s National Labs.

New geothermal projects in 2011 will mean over $2 billion in new capital investment. The finance community will gather with top experts and major players in geothermal development and finance for the 2011 Geothermal Energy Finance Forum on Wednesday, February 9, 2011 at the Ritz-Carlton, Battery Park in New York City. The program will report on global growth in geothermal production and use.

Can EU become totally renewable by 2050?

Some respected European politicians and energy experts have recently stated that EU could by 2050 completely satisfy its total energy demand from renewable energy sources. In order to do so, all EU countries would have to work together and make huge investments in further development of renewable energy technologies, especially renewable energy storage technologies. Is such scenario really possible?

To some this may (rightly) seem like some sort of "green utopia" while there are some that are really convinced how this is very much possible, on both economic as well as technological level. This optimism is mostly based on some recent estimates, according to which Europe, together with North Africa has excellent renewable energy potential to produce approximately 140,000 terawatt hours of energy, which is around 20 times the amount of current energy consumption in Europe.

Current EU's renewable energy goal is 20 % of energy coming from renewable energy sources by 2020, which many energy experts believe will be achieved with relative ease, especially since the recent data shows that 60% of all investments in energy sector were transferred towards renewable energy projects.

What some energy experts keep forgetting is the fact that EU is still not united body when it comes to energy policy. You have countries like Germany and Spain that are making huge investments in renewable energy sector, France meanwhile continues to further invest in new nuclear power plants, while central European countries still invest in thermal power plants based on fossil fuels and look reluctant to drastically reduce CO2 emissions.

The other important part in this story is the fact that many countries are still not ready to give Brussels all the power in making joint energy decisions because this could put in jeopardy some bilateral energy agreements that these countries have with countries like U.S. and China, which enable these countries to get certain energy resources under privileged conditions.

Some energy experts even dream about Pan-European renewable energy network that would reach entire EU by connecting Spain's solar and wind power projects with geothermal power plants in Italy, offshore wind farms in Britain and Denmark, and hydropower projects in Scandinavia.

Renewable energy projects of this magnitude look highly unlikely in EU because differences among countries still look like a too big obstacle in making such important decisions. Thus totally renewable EU by 2050 is just a nice dream that has more to do with the science fiction than actually being possible in real life.

Building new nuclear power plants - Drawbacks and benefits

Since U.S. obviously plans to build new nuclear power plants in years to come I reckon it would be good idea to discuss the main drawbacks and benefits of nuclear power plants. The most important issue is of course the safety of the new nuclear power plants. When it comes to the safety of new nuclear power plants then it's important to say that nuclear power plants have significantly improved their safety in the last few decades, and nuclear disasters like Chernobyl and Three Miles Island are almost impossible to happen again.

All new nuclear power plants need to satisfy maximum safety standards, and the newest nuclear reactor designs really ensure maximum safety by applying the concept of the negative feedback loop, which ensures that as the nuclear reactor's power output increases, it becomes more and more harder to squeeze any more power out of it, meaning that nuclear chain reaction that could lead to nuclear reactor explosion is almost impossible to happen. Though this design is not totally foolproof it is much safer compared to the older designs. Of course there are still many older nuclear power plants that still use the older design, but even they ensure the maximum safety as there hasn't been any major accident since Chernobyl.

Nuclear power plants do not need fossil fuels to produce electricity, and this means that they do not release harmful carbon emissions that contribute to pollution and climate change problem. Since there are no carbon emissions nuclear power is also considered clean energy source just like solar, wind or geothermal energy.

In order to properly operate nuclear power plants require nuclear fuel. Nuclear fuel mostly used in nuclear power plants in uranium though some nuclear power plants also use plutonium. Uranium is plentiful in United States, and building more nuclear power plants would therefore contribute to better energy independence as there would be reduced need for importing expensive foreign fuels.

Nuclear power plants operate very efficiently and reliably. Their efficiency can be even compared to coal power plants, and once they are built they are extremely reliable given that there's enough uranium to feed them, and as already said there is plenty of uranium in United States.

The main disadvantage of nuclear power plants is no doubt nuclear radioactive waste that has lifespan of more than 5000 years so more new nuclear power plants will mean more radioactive waste, and current nuclear waste storage options definitely do not ensure totally safe storage for the next 5000 years or so.

Another disadvantage are relatively high construction costs, and there is also the high number of licenses that need to be obtained prior and during the construction which significantly prolong construction time but are needed to ensure the maximum safety of new nuclear power plants.

With the increased number of nuclear power plants there would also be the greater possibility of terrorist attacks so nuclear power plants need not only to ensure the maximum safety against nuclear reactor explosion but also against possible terrorist attacks.

Renewable energy jobs statistics - United States

The U.S. government funding of $2 billion dollars should be enough to ensure more than 1500 permanent jobs in US solar power industry.

In U.S., solar power installer has an average salary between $40,000-50,000 per year, while solar power engineer double this amount.

It has been calculated than in the last decade the number of jobs in U.S. solar power industry has increased by more than 20 percent.

The average wind energy technician salary in United States is between $30,000-40,000 per year.

At the end of 2009, there were around 95,000 people employed in US solar power industry.

In February 2009, the U.S. Congress passed an $800 billion stimulus package which should in years to come create around two million jobs in renewable energy industry, mostly in solar power industry.

According to some recent studies renewable energy jobs, together with energy efficiency jobs should create more than 4 million employments by the year 2030.

The 2008 study by the American Solar Energy Society (ASES) predicts 37 million jobs and $4.29 billion in annual revenue by 2030 from renewable energy and energy efficiency in U.S.

It has been estimated that around 95% of all renewable energy jobs are in private industry.

Renewable energy sectors that account for the majority of green jobs in United States include solar, wind and biofuels.

Wind farm manager in United States earns an average salary between $70,000 to $90,000 per year.

US ethanol industry currently employs more than 200,000 people despite the recent struggle.

Biomass and biofuels industry currently employs around 350,000 people in United States.

It is estimated that wind power sector in Iowa currently employs close to 4000 people.

Solar energy industry is most developed in California where it employs more than 30,000 people. In 2009 alone, California added more than 5000 new renewable energy jobs, most of which in solar industry.

Oregon has lately experienced real boom in new green jobs, especially in solar power industry. Solar power industry in Oregon currently employs more than 1000 people, mostly in manufacturing solar power gear.

It is expected that the number of solar energy jobs in United States would grow by 26% compared to 2010.

More than half of US solar energy companies expect to add new jobs in 2011.

In 2011 there should be around 3000 new geothermal energy jobs in United States, mostly in California and Nevada.

By the year 2020 the US biofuel industry should account to around 800,000 green energy jobs (both direct and indirect).

U.S. hydropower industry currently accounts for approximately 250,000 direct jobs.

How to build wind turbine blades at home?

Large wind farms are installed in many parts of the world but the popularity of small wind turbines among individuals and commercial businesses is also growing as small wind turbines are now increasingly used to supplement energy consumption.

If we look at the current numbers and expert predictions we can see that 2008 revenue of $165 million in small wind turbines industry will grow approximately 2,5 times to $412 million by 2013 if estimates from Pike's Small Wind Power report are correct.

But why are small wind turbines becoming so popular? The main reason of their popularity is the fact that on a cost-per-watt basis many are finding small wind turbines to be less expensive than solar panels, so they are economically the most acceptable way to go for clean energy.

So if you decide to give small wind turbine a chance then you also need to know that you can save some money by building wind turbine blades at home.

You can build you homemade wind generator blades from different materials but the most commonly used materials are PVC and wood. When it comes to choosing between these two materials then I would suggest you go with the PVC because PVC represents better value for your money compared to wood. It is much easier to balance wind turbine blades made from PVC compared to the ones made of wood which will in the end result in less time needed to built them. Also, wood is less water protectant, and once wood starts absorbing moisture you can forget about balanced blades because instead of balance you will see lot of wobbles, and once your blades start wobbling they'll be far less efficient. So the PVC is definitely the recommended option.

So now that we have decided to go with the PVC we need to determine the size of blades. It is vital that you measure everything perfectly because by ensuring perfect measures you will ensure the maximum efficiency in harnessing wind energy. If your blades are no more than 30" in length the 4" diameter PVC should be sufficient, and if you plan to build blades over 30" in length then you should definitely consider to use the stronger 6" PVC pipe.

Balancing the blades can seem like a very difficult task. But there is rather simple solution to overcome this problem. You should put numbers 1,2,3 on each of your blades, and then give your blades a decent spin. After a couple of spins you will see which blade ends up most often at the bottom, and then you simply trim a little bit of the end of that blade off, and then give it another spin. This shouldn't take much of your time.

To conclude, with just the basic technical skills you can build your own wind turbine blades in couple of hours time. It's as easy as that. Good luck.

Domestic oil drilling - Good or bad energy option?

A not so long ago president Obama backed new drilling for oil and natural gas off parts of the US coastline. This support was supposedly a president's idea to decrease nation's energy dependence on foreign oil import but can this idea really work, and will U.S. really be less dependent on foreign oil with domestic offshore oil drilling?

Many energy experts agree that domestic offshore oil drilling is not only unwise energy option from environmental but also from economical point of view. Why? Because it is very likely that domestic oil will in the end cost even more than the foreign oil, and given the current economic times we live in there won't be many people that will be thrilled to support the idea of buying more expensive energy option just because it is domestic, heck if that was the case than we wouldn't see the cheap stuff from China everywhere we turn to.

Capital costs of these projects are projected to be very high, and U.S. still needs to test potential sites by making drilling tests and some other required tests and studies that of course don't come cheap either. And once domestic oil starts flowing you can be sure that these upfront costs will be included in final oil price making it more expensive compared to foreign fuel option.

How many of you would buy more expensive oil just because of its domestic origin? In today's economy patriotism doesn't pay off, and cheaper solutions are always the popular ones. In reality, the only thing that could make people buy more expensive domestic oil is some government regulation, and this definitely wouldn't go well with public.

Renewable energy is much better option, and instead of drilling for domestic oil U.S. should put more efforts to develop renewable energy technologies in order to make renewable energy projects more feasible. Yes, renewable energy option is still a rather expensive option but offshore oil drilling doesn't come cheap either. Therefore, renewable energy is definitely the better option, if not for anything else then because of its environmental benefits.

But U.S. still fails to realize this rather simple logic, and this is really the main reason why U.S. is currently well behind China in global clean energy race.

Global oil statistics

At the end of 2009, there were 1333.1 billion barrels of proved oil reserves (this number doesn't include Canadian oil sands) according to the BP's Statistical Review of World Energy.

Russia is currently the world's largest oil producer. In 2009, Russia produced in average 9.93 million barrels of oil per day for a total of 494.2 million tons, which is around 12% of world's total oil production.

According to the data from IEA China is currently the world's largest oil consumer. In 2009 China consumed 2.252 billion tons of oil equivalent, which is about 4% more than the U.S., which consumed 2.170 billion tons of oil equivalent. It is also expected that China’s oil demand will likely rise by more than 5% in 2010.

In 2009, China's oil consumption increased by 6.7 percent while US oil consumption declined by 4.9 percent (mostly because of recession).

According to the data from the US Energy Information Administration, approximately 4.1 billion barrels of oil are held in strategic reserves, of which 1.4 billion is government-controlled.

International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts that the global oil demand in 2010 would grow by 170,000 barrels a day to 86.5 million barrels, mostly because of developing countries which depend on oil to continue their economic growth.

Besides United States and China, the list of five largest oil consumers in the world also includes Japan, Russia and India.

Saudi Arabia is currently the world’s second largest crude oil producer behind Russia. It is estimated that Saudi Arabia currently produces around 8.5 million barrels of oil per day.

World crude oil demand grew an average of 1.76% per year from 1994 to 2006.

Transportation sector has the highest oil consumption rates, accounting to 55% of oil use worldwide, and for approximately 68.9% of the oil used in the United States.

Saudi Arabia's largest oil fields are now declining at a rate of around 8% per year. The average global rate of field decline is at about 4.5% per year.

In 2005, global oil production reached an all-time high of 73,720,000 barrels per day.

Oil had the largest price on June 30th, 2008 crossing over $143 a barrel.

Top five countries in oil reserves category are Saudi Arabia, Canada, Iran, Iraq, and United Arabian Emirates.

Energy did you know - Various data and statistics

Here is some interesting info about different energy sources.

Did you know that the first U.S. geothermal power plant, opened at The Geysers in California, back in 1960, is still active?

Did you know that according to United States Environmental Protection Agency standards it takes 10,000 years of radioactive decay before the spent nuclear fuel will no longer pose a threat to public health and safety?

Did you know that the world's largest nuclear power plant is Japan's Kashiwazaki nuclear plant, with 7 operating units and total capacity of 8,212 MW which is enough to satisfy the needs for electricity of 16 million households?

Did you know that according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, geo-exchange systems save homeowners 30-70 percent in heating costs, and 20-50 percent in cooling costs, compared to conventional systems?

Did you know that according to the study by the Michigan State University it is 36 percent more efficient to grow grain for food than for fuel?

Did you know that approximately 40% of the world electricity production uses coal?

Did you know that geothermal heat pumps are always more efficient at heating compared to being used as pure electric heaters, even when extracting heat from cold winter air?

Did you know that according to the study from Brazil's National Institute hydroelectric dams hurt climate more than oil by releasing significant amounts of methane into the environment, thanks to the rotting vegetation submerged when the reservoir floods?

Did you know that Colorado was the first U.S. state to create a renewable portfolio standard (RPS), back in 2004?

Did you know that the world's fastest growing energy technology is photovoltaic production that is increasing by an average of 48 percent each year since 2002?

Did you know that wind power provides about 20% of electricity production in Denmark which is significantly higher proportion than in any other country int he world?

Did you know that unlike wind and solar resources, which are more dependent upon weather fluctuations, geothermal resources are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week?

Did you know that the New Hope Power Partnership, located in South Bay, Florida, is the largest biomass power plant in North America?

Did you know that currently around 90 % of all buildings in Iceland is heated with geothermal power?

Did you know that biomass is the second most common renewable energy source in United States that satisfies around 4% of nation's electricity demand?

Did you know that the world's largest wind farm is located in Texas, The Roscoe Wind Farm with the capacity of 781 MW?

Did you know that California has more photovoltaics installed than all other U.S. states together?

Did you know that solar panels perform optimally when placed in direct sunlight so it is always wise to position your photovoltaic array directly under the noontime sun in order to achieve maximum efficiency?

Did you know that global geothermal heat pump capacity is growing by 10% annually?

Did you know that biofuels provided 1.8% of the world's transport fuel in 2008?

Did you know that wind energy sector is the fastest growing renewable energy sector int he world?

Did you know that coal is mostly used energy source to generate electricity (approximately 49% of the United States electricity comes from coal) despite being the "dirtiest" energy source of them all?

Did you know that there are more than 85,000 people employed in the US wind industry?

Did you know that Chinese plan to have 5 million electric cars on the nation’s road by 2020?

Did you know that biodiesel has 10 to 12 percent lower energy density compared to standard diesel fuel meaning you get a lower mileage for biodiesel compared to ordinary diesel fuel?

Did you know that in 2009 U.S. accounted for only five percent of the world’s solar cells production?

Fossil fuels vs renewable energy in United States

Fossil fuels are still dominant energy sources in United States, and their dominance doesn't look like being decently challenged by renewables in years to come. But this doesn't mean that everything looks negative for renewable energy sector in United States, on the contrary, the latest data shows that Americans used significantly more renewable energy resources in 2009 compared to previous years (especially wind energy).

According to the US Department of Energy Americans were in general using less energy in 2009 compared to previous years. There are two factors mainly responsible for this: recession and improved efficiency. Recession is connected with lower economic activity and thus decreased demand for energy, and higher efficiency appliances and vehicles were able to reduce energy demand even further.

Coal and petroleum are still heavily used in United States but recent data shows that United States used significantly less coal and petroleum in 2009 than in 2008. Wind energy was the most popular renewable energy source in 2009, and Americans were using significantly more wind power in 2009 compared to 2008.

Other renewable energy sources such as solar, geothermal, and hydropower also experienced increase in use though this increase is significantly smaller compared to wind energy.

The estimated U.S. energy use in 2009 was 94.6 quadrillion BTUs, down from 99.2 quadrillion BTUs in 2008, and domestic energy use experienced decline in all important sectors (residential, commercial, industrial and transportation).

The significant increase of totally installed US wind power capacity in 2009 was mostly due to the more than acceptable incentives, and technological advancement of wind power technologies. To put it in other words, in 2009, the wind power technology got better and the incentives remained relatively stable (despite the financial crisis).

This has resulted in less CO2 emissions compared to previous years because Americans were burning less fossil fuels. It will be very interesting to see whether this trend will continue once energy demand starts to grow again, or will coal and petroleum, once again, grow in popularity.

Why does Russia want more coal?

Coal is fossil fuel that is highly polluting our environment, and worldwide burning of the coal in coal power plants is one of the main reasons why we are currently engaged in fight against climate change. Despite the highly negative environmental impact many countries heavily rely on coal to fuel their economies since in most cases coal presents the cheapest energy option. China, the world's fastest economy has built its economic success on coal.

Though coal can bring economic success on one side it can also bring total environmental failure on the other side, and is really no surprise that many environmentalists have been worried about the latest Russia's plans to substantially increase energy production from coal as this will mean even more carbon emissions in the atmosphere, and with it the bigger climate change impact.

Why would Russia, the well known oil and natural gas giant also turn to coal to increase its energy production? There are several reasons for this. First of all Russia has enormous coal reserves, second only to United States, coal is as already said cheap energy option, and third increased coal use could help Russia to easier fulfill its gas export contracts.

Many energy experts do not see this move to be very wise, not only from environmental point of view but also from economic point of view since Russian coal is of poor quality because of high sulfur and moisture content. United Kingdom for instance displaced Russian coal with Australian and South African coal that both have significantly better quality than Russian coal.

But other energy experts will tell you that even if Russian coal is of poor quality, the Russia can still profit on shale gas (natural gas produced from shale). Shale gas technologies still need to be fully developed but they would enable countries that have enough coal, and not enough natural gas to produce shale gas at coal basins. Since Russia, as already said has abundance of coal of poor quality, extracting shale gas out of the coal basins would really be the case of getting the most out of it, especially as current estimates say that shale gas development should rise by more than 70% in the next 20 years.

Russia is filled with fossil fuel riches, and this is probably the main reason why Russia isn't doing much to use more renewable energy sources to supply its energy demand. The global clean energy race is on, and Russia still looks to be hesitating to join in. Fossil fuel riches are more than capable to provide Russia a relative energy comfort on global market at present times but Russia should also think about its energetic future, not to mention the fact that there will be huge economic benefits for winners in clean energy race.

Why should renewable energy replace fossil fuels?

Renewable energy is touted by many energy experts as the best possible option to replace fossil fuels, and here are the reasons why.

Fossil fuels (oil, natural gas, and coal) are currently dominant sources of energy that have long tradition and powerful lobbies behind them. Though our industry and economy is still heavily dependent on fossil fuels there are several reasons why we should start reducing this dependence as soon as possible. Two the most important reasons are huge environmental damage fossil fuels do and the fact that fossil fuels are limited energy resources meaning that they will be eventually depleted.

Fossil fuels burning creates harmful greenhouse gas emissions (carbon dioxide emissions) that have significantly contributed to global warming and climate change, and the science warns us that if we continue this path we will very soon see irreversible changes in our climate that will mean the end of our current way of life. Possible climate change scenarios include more frequent extreme weather events, severe food shortages, flooding and droughts, and even new diseases so serious climate change is definitely something we could live without.

We must also accept the fact that eventually world will run out of oil, natural gas and coal. This will not happen in the next few decades but is likely to happen in lets say 100 years from now. When this happens we must have another option ready and well prepared to jump in and replace the fossil fuels, and renewable energy is definitely the best available option we have at our disposal.

Why is renewable energy the best option to replace fossil fuels? First of all renewable energy doesn't harm our environment like fossil fuels do, and generally speaking compared to fossil fuels renewable energy sources are far more environmentally friendly.

Renewable energy sources cannot be depleted like fossil fuels can, sun will continue to shine and wind will continue to blow while oil, natural gas and coal will likely disappear in relatively near future.

There are also so many renewable energy resources to choose from: in some places solar power may be the best renewable energy option, in other wind, in some hydropower, geothermal energy, biomass, tidal power. All these renewable energy options are available, and it's up to each country to choose what is best for their residents.

Renewable energy technologies are still far from being fully developed meaning that fossil fuels still have edge in costs when compared to renewable energy sources. But the good news is that renewable energy sources are becoming more and more cost-competitive with fossil fuels (for instance the prices of wind turbines and solar panels have significantly decreased in the last few years), and this is definitely a good sign for the future of renewable energy.

The media should do much more to promote renewable energy by presenting people all the benefits these sources have over fossil fuels, but not only by showing the advantages of renewable energy sources but also by showing their drawbacks, and the possible solutions to fix these drawbacks.

The first thing each and every one of us must learn is that the "perfect energy source" doesn't exist, and thus we need to choose the best available option we have at our disposal. Renewable energy is not perfect and certainly has its flaws but it's still way better compared to fossil fuels. At least in my book, that is.