Washington State has Great Geothermal Potential
By noemie maxwell
Fri Jan 04, 2008 at 10:50:24 AM PST
Section: Washington State
Topic: Energy
North of the Hot Zone (northofthehotzone.com)
Washington State Geothermal Brownbag & Blog: That's the subject line of the email that just came through from Lawrence Molloy, raising hopes, of course, for a picnic at an Icelandic-like hotspot. But the lunch will be at the offices of the NW Energy Coalition on First Avenue in Seattle.
Molloy tells us in a Seattle Times editorial today that Washington is on the edge of a geothermal hot zone and that "the underground windmills are waiting".
Readers may remember Lawrence Molloy as a Port of Seattle Commissioner who served from 2001 to 2005. See the press release, announcing the lunch and the new blog, North of the Hot Zone, below.
WASHINGTON STATE HAS GREAT GEOTHERMAL ENERGY POTENTIAL
New blog on geothermal power in Washington state highlights the opportunities for significant electricity generation.
Seattle, WA (January 4th, 2008) - Today, following the publication of an op-ed in The Seattle Times, Sitting on a Hot Energy Source, a new blog was launched focusing on geothermal energy in Washington State.
The blog, North of the Hot Zone (northofthehotzone.com), focuses on the potential of generating electricity from geothermal energy in Washington state. The blog's name refers to Washington State's position north of the geothermal "hot zone" of Nevada, California, Idaho and Oregon. The blog has several geothermal maps including an excellent Geothermal Map of Washington. Currently, Washington state's geothermal potential is from 50 - 600 megawatts of electricity, though experts believe that a more up-to-date geologic inventory could yield significantly more potential.
Geothermal energy is low carbon energy source with high upfront development costs. Hence the name "underground windmills". While Washington state and Washingtonians are committed to renewable energy, we have yet to get a clear understanding of our potential for geothermal energy. As of yet, nothing has been sited, permitted or developed.
A state-wide geothermal meeting is scheduled for late February. An environmental brownbag on "Geothermal in Washington State" will be held from noon to 1:30 on Thursday January 17th , 2008 at NW Energy Coalition, 811 1st Ave, Seattle, WA 98104