Geothermal energy sources may heat up.

Geothermal energy sources may heat up

With the depressed market price of foreign petroleum and the seeming abundance of U.S. coal reserves, interst is waning for alternative energy sources such as solar, wind and geothermal power. But a report from the National Research Council (NRC) last week emphasized that the low price of hydrocarbon fuels will not continue for long, and that with funding and development, several forms of geothermal energy may become economically viable in the near future.

Heat from the earth has been used to generate electricity ever since a 1904 experiment in Lardello, Italy, harnessed heat from underground steam to power five lightbulbs. Today, power plants in the United States, New Zealand, Mexico and elsewhere are producing power from subsurface hydrothermal systems, which hold either steam or heated fluids. Aside from the currently viable hydrothermal systems, the NRC also described three other potential sources of geothermal energy: deep pressurized-fluid systems below 4,500 meters; hot, dry rock systems; and magma systems.

As a result of their study, the NRC recommends that the Department of Energy's Geothermal Technology program receive increased funding in order to research and develop both near-and long-term geothermal resources. Funding for this program has decreased from a high of about $158 million in 1979 to $21 million in 1987. The NRC also suggests forming a Geothermal Research Organization that could coordinate U.S. research projects.