#refuture

ReFuture Clinic, Kiev, Ukraine

Anche a Padova sono Fuori Come Un Copertone.

Guardare per credere. Presto le foto a tutti :)

The Department of Energy put out a note informing the nation's first commercial grid connected Enhanced Geothermal System is operational and due to a ~38% increase in energy output the Ormat Technologies’ Desert Peak 2 EGS project is now delivering an extra 1.7MW of power to Nevada's electric grid. I already feel better knowing all the glitter in Las Vegas, or at least a bit of it, is coming from this renewable energy source. So the background story of the Ormat field is interesting exactly because back in 2008, at the start of this project improvement, those geothermal wells were deemed unproductive. The DoE invested US$5.4M and private enterprise added another US$2.6M in a partnership involving Ormat, GeothermaEx, the US Geological Survey Lawrence Berkeley and Sandia National Labs to develop more cost effective and innovative technologies... and the result, as measured by the increase in energy output,  was impressive!

And why is this story so worthwhile of our attention? Well the $ signs are not that large, but the people in the partnership are top notch and a 38% increase in energy output cannot be dismissed. Now the key development is these newly developed -and proven - EGS techniques allow public and private enterprise the ability to go after fields once considered uneconomical or irrecoverable and turn them into productive wells. To make this story even sweeter, the US Geological Survey further estimates EGS can enable the development of new (or recovered) 100 to 500GW of geothermal resource capacity... and that is the big number one would expect. Needless to say Geothermal sources, like other Renewable Energy sources, have lower carbon footprint than non-renewable sources do. As an economist  I cannot help but celebrate the outstanding commercial results of this government, private enterprise and research labs initiative. If we can continue to make such laser focused, applied investments, then Renewable Energy will move from the "socially desirable" category into a commercial success, just like any other venture is. We need to acknowledge the administration's vision, private enterprise's commitment and risk taking, as well as the dedication / innovation of our research labs. Oh well, what else would we expect if Sandia National Lab gets involved? Of course it will be a success!