El Salvador is soon to be the home of a new international geothermal training center for Latin America and the Caribbean. The country received a grant for $2 million from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the center will help aid countries learn how to develop and run geothermal energy facilities. It is estimated that the region’s geothermal potential is …
Solar Thermal Gains Momentum
When many of us think of solar energy the first thing that comes to mind is a solar panel. But there are other solar technologies that can generate renewable energy. Solar thermal hot water and space heating systems are gaining in popularity here in the U.S. and have already become widespread in countries such as China. A solar thermal system …
Ball State Completes A Hot Geothermal Project
It’s been while since I’ve written about geothermal so I thought I’d bring you this neat story from Ball State. The university created the country’s largest ground-source, closed-loop district geothermal energy system. The project began in the Spring of 2012 when water heated by the Earth began flowing through a geothermal district heating and cooling system. This portion of the …
New Tool for Solar, Wind Projects on Contaminated Site
A series of “decision trees” are now available to help companies develop projects on contaminated lands owned by the Bureau of Land Management. Developed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) along with the Department of Energy (DOE), the decision trees can be used to evaluate sites for renewable energy development ranging from solar to wind to geothermal and everything in between. There are …
Progress in Blueprint for Secure Energy Future
The White House today released a one-year progress report on the “Blueprint for a Secure Energy Future,” the Administration’s all-of-the-above approach to American energy. Among the highlights noted in the report is that the plan has resulted in a doubling of renewable energy generation from wind, solar, and geothermal sources since 2008. According to the report, “Since 2009, DOI has …
Biodiesel Consulting Group Expands
Biodiesel consulting firm Lee Enterprises of Little Rock, Ark., has announced plans for expansion in 2012 into ethanol, biomass, wind, solar and geothermal, and the addition of consultants and strategic partners. “We are currently the world’s largest biodiesel consulting group, and most of our consultants and strategic partners are already very involved in the other alternative fuels,” said principal owner …
Book Review – The Powers That Be
I felt like an academic when I read this week’s book, “The Powers That Be Global Energy For The Twenty-First Century And Beyond,” although author Scott L. Montgomery wanted the book to be “fun.” I sported my black geek glasses and curled up in a chair at a local coffee shop and attempted to give off the personae that I’m …
Geothermal Plant Inaugurated in Costa Rica
A second geothermal plant designed and manufactured by Ormat Technologies has been inaugurated in Las Pailas, Costa Rica. Ormat was contracted by Banco Centroamericano de Integracion Economica “BCIE”, to supply all the power equipment, supervise the installation and conduct the testing and start-up of the 42 MW power plant. The plant will actually be operated by the Costa Rican National …
Arabian American Development Inks Deal with Gevo
Gevo has inked a deal with Arabian American Development Co. to build a hydrocarbon processing demonstration plant at its South Hampton Resources, Inc. subsidiary located in Silsbee, Texas. Arabian will also provide toll-processing services that will result in the processing of up to 10,000 gallons of isobutanol per month into a variety of renewable hydrocarbon biomaterials including jet fuel, isooctane …
DOE Awards $2.85M to GeoTek Energy
The Department of Energy is funding several geothermal projects in the United States including a project by GeoTek Energy to design its Gravity Head Energy System (GHES). The company received $450,000 with the potential for an additional $2.4 million to validate the design and for further development of the technology. Geothermal energy uses heat from the earth to produce steam …