What's Holding Green Power Back?


Money.

This Forbes article, explains.

I love Iceland. Not just because of Bjork, or a pity over how their country imploded with a cold "squish" sound. I really love their famous geothermal energy usage.

So why don't we do it here?

It's too expensive for a profit-based model, this article says.

Excerpt of Forbes article:

"Unlike with wind or solar, geothermal power developers have to raise money just to see if there's a power source to be exploited. According to Mark Taylor, a geothermal analyst at New Energy Finance, it can cost $10 million to $15 million to drill two or three holes to prove there's enough heat there to spin a turbine. "You need resources just to prove your resources," he says."

Damn.

Comments

Mattwo said…
hey sylvia -- just stumbled on this (sad, but just had to google myself for work to see where i'm quoted)and i thought i'd throw-in two more cents. first, buck-up. despite the upfront costs which can be pretty high, geothermal is clean power that runs 24/7, and it _can_ be done profitably. actually, rare amongst the renewables, it can in several instances be done profitably even without government incentives. pretty cool stuff.

second, we (the US) _are_ doing geothermal already -- it's not just iceland (not to detract from iceland; that place is fantastic). the US actually has the world's largest geothermal market, about six times larger than iceland's.

so yeah, just like any large project development, geothermal has its difficulties and it's expensive. but, it can and, more importantly, is being done profitably across the world.

do i sound like an advocate? i hope not too much -- but i'm sold. it makes a lot of sense.

have a good one.
February 18, 2010 at 5:23 PM
Post a Comment

Popular Posts