2008 Woodie Awards
Heat, steam create clean energy
Traci Mitchell
Issue date: 11/12/07 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
Using geothermal technology could lower bills and create an environmentally clean energy source.
Representatives from Southern Methodist University attended the Earth Science Fair Oct. 14 in the Ellison Miles Geotechnology Institute at Brookhaven College. Geothermal energy refers to using the heat of the earth and steam to create a power source.
Maria Richards, from the SMU Geothermal Lab, said oil and gas wells can also be used to create this kind of energy because of their existing design.
"Right now we are focusing on educating the oil and gas world and letting them know that their wells will work perfectly fine," Richards said.
Linda Bills, parent of a Brookhaven student, said she was approached recently about her property in Louisiana.
"I have some wells on my land that we've leased out for years," Bills said. "We don't make a lot of money on them anymore, and I would be excited to see them used in some new way."
She said she would love to be part of a new technology that could change the future. Bills said it was too expensive for her to invest in at this point but she hoped someday things would change.
Although many buildings and homes are using this new technology, the cost is substantial for most single families. Richards said geothermal heat pumps, which use the heat from the earth to warm buildings in the winter and can transfer the earth's temperature to cool buildings in the summer, can cost thousands to install. However, she said more than one million of these pumps are operating in the United States.
Geothermal power plants can meet the needs of small communities as well.
Richards estimated the cost of one unit at more than $200,000, but it can provide base-load power to more than 200 people. Richards said the idea is to have many small units instead of one large power plant that is responsible for an entire city.
She said the initial cost may seem large but, in the long term, consumers would save tremendously.
Representatives from Southern Methodist University attended the Earth Science Fair Oct. 14 in the Ellison Miles Geotechnology Institute at Brookhaven College. Geothermal energy refers to using the heat of the earth and steam to create a power source.
Maria Richards, from the SMU Geothermal Lab, said oil and gas wells can also be used to create this kind of energy because of their existing design.
"Right now we are focusing on educating the oil and gas world and letting them know that their wells will work perfectly fine," Richards said.
Linda Bills, parent of a Brookhaven student, said she was approached recently about her property in Louisiana.
"I have some wells on my land that we've leased out for years," Bills said. "We don't make a lot of money on them anymore, and I would be excited to see them used in some new way."
She said she would love to be part of a new technology that could change the future. Bills said it was too expensive for her to invest in at this point but she hoped someday things would change.
Although many buildings and homes are using this new technology, the cost is substantial for most single families. Richards said geothermal heat pumps, which use the heat from the earth to warm buildings in the winter and can transfer the earth's temperature to cool buildings in the summer, can cost thousands to install. However, she said more than one million of these pumps are operating in the United States.
Geothermal power plants can meet the needs of small communities as well.
Richards estimated the cost of one unit at more than $200,000, but it can provide base-load power to more than 200 people. Richards said the idea is to have many small units instead of one large power plant that is responsible for an entire city.
She said the initial cost may seem large but, in the long term, consumers would save tremendously.
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