From Everett, Washington’s Hometown newspaper The Herald.

The test wells, located near Skykomish and Sultan, will be drilled to measure the rise in temperature from the surface to the bottom of each well.

The test-well sites likely would not be candidates for a geothermal plant in the future. They were selected because they’re near roads and are easy to reach…Two of the sites are on private property, two on U.S. Forest Service land and one on land owned by the state…The PUD will spend $250,000 to dig the wells.”

The PUD will spend $250,000 to dig the wells

Geothermal could provide up to 6% of SNOPUD’s electrical load according to the utilities estimates.

GreenFire Energy (GreenFire) today announced that it has entered into a technology sublicense agreement with AltaRock Energy (AltaRock) for the core patent for using CO₂ as the working fluid in a geothermal energy plant. The technology, which GreenFire refers to as “CO₂G™,” will produce renewable geothermal energy while also sequestering large volumes of CO₂. GreenFire intends to be the first company in the world to commercialize this technology. The sublicense gives GreenFire exclusive rights to the technology across a broad region centered on the St. Johns Dome, located in Apache County, AZ and Catron County, NM. It also gives GreenFire national non-exclusive access to the technology for the purposes of developing other sites, some of which have already been identified.

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/greenfire-energy-announces-a-technology,1117913.shtml

The author of this blog acknowledges the conflict of interest to carbon capture he holds.

Little has happened of note following the Alta-Rock access to rights beneath 263,000 acres of timber property in Western Washington.  Nor has Seattle City Light moved to take on any resource development.

However, SnoPud continues to be a leader and moves forward with their geothermal development in the Cascades.  They received $15 Million in federal funding for their innovative energy work in not only geothermal, but also tidal and smart meters.

The June 3rd Geothermal Workshop in Seattle was successful with lots of Canadian attention coming down from Vancouver.

State Senator Kline is committed to re-introducing his geothermal bill in the 2010 Legislature in Olympia.

However, the state remains in need of a deep borehole in the Cascades for some accurate assessments on the resource potential.

A vast pool of molten rock in the continental crust that underlies southwestern Washington state could supply magma to three active volcanoes in the Cascade Mountains Mount St. Helens, Mount Rainier and Mount Adams according to a new study that’s causing a stir among scientists

The link to the journal article and from the Hartford Courant’s political coverage (of all places). 

The study, published Sunday in the magazine Nature Geoscience, concluded that the magma pool among the three mountains could be the "most widespread magma-bearing area of continental crust discovered so far."
Other scientists dismiss the existence of an underground vat of magma covering potentially hundreds of square miles as "farfetched" and "highly unlikely." Rather than magma heated to 1,300 to 1,400 degrees, some think it could be water.
They also discount speculation that a so-called "super volcano" such as the one under the Yellowstone National Park area might be beneath the region. They say there’s no credible evidence to suggest a need to overhaul the volcanic hazard assessments for the three mountains.
Even so, the study is another piece of the puzzle as scientists try to understand the deep plumbing of volcanoes and, perhaps eventually, learn how to predict their eruptions better.
In the late 1980s, scientists discovered a massive underground electromagnetic anomaly known as the Southern Washington Cascades Conductor. But the two-year study published Sunday is the first to suggest that it may be the source of magma for Mounts St. Helens, Rainier and Adams.
"We believe our results speak for themselves and are reluctant to extrapolate from the conclusions reached in the paper," Graham Hill, the lead author of the study, said in an e-mail from New Zealand. The study was sponsored by GNS Science, the New Zealand equivalent of the U.S. Geological Survey, and Monash University in Australia.
The three volcanoes are along the edges of the Southern Washington Cascades Conductor, in a rough triangle with Mount St. Helens to the south, Rainier to the north and Adams to the east. They’re 50 or so miles apart.
Scientists think that each volcano has its own small magma chamber three miles or more directly beneath it. A large pool of magma 12 to 15 miles under the region’s surface supplies each of the shallower chambers, the new study theorizes.
"The take-home point is there is evidence of a primary magma pool that feeds the chambers underneath the volcanoes," said Matt Burgess, who worked on the study before becoming a hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in San Diego. "It’s one source all these volcanoes feed off."
Using sensitive instruments at 85 sites among the mountains including Mount St. Helens during its just-ended eruptive phase scientists studied the electric and magnetic fields of the Southern Washington Cascades Conductor, Burgess said.
"It’s up for debate, but it is reasonable to assume it is a large magma chamber," he said. "There is no other explanation for this."
Among the scientists who study volcanoes, the study has, in fact, touched off a major debate.
"Their interpretation is open to disagreement," said Seth Moran, a volcano seismologist with the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory in Vancouver, Wash. "Other geophysical studies don’t support this theory."
Moran said the most telling evidence that the theory was wrong was the lack of any surface evidence, such as geothermal vents or hot springs, among the mountains that would indicate the presence of a super-heated underground magma pool.
"If there was such a large body of magma, you would find surface evidence," Moran said, adding that Yellowstone, with its geysers and hot springs, is a perfect example of the type of visible evidence that’s lacking in southwest Washington state.
Steve Malone, a professor emeritus at the University of Washington’s earth and space science department who’s studied the Cascade volcanoes for years, agrees.
"The geothermal evidence for what Graham suggests is nonexistent," Malone said. There is also no seismic evidence for such a magma pool, he said.
Twenty years ago, a study using "limited heat data" described a vast area of deep magma beneath the volcanoes in the Oregon Cascades, Malone said.
"Such hypotheses sometimes just fade away," he said. "It absolutely is not a reason at this point to re-evaluate hazard mitigation efforts."

Yet some of Malone’s colleagues agree with the study and Hill’s conclusions.
Olivier Bachmann, a geochemist at the University of Washington, said the data in the study were "pretty solid." He said there was other evidence, including geochemical evidence, to suggest that the Southern Washington Cascades Conductor might be a magma pool.
An underground anomaly like the Southern Washington Cascades Conductor has been discovered in the Andes Mountains in Chile. Studies there indicate that it’s a pool of magma, he said. Scientists on New Zealand’s North Island are doing similar research.
The lack of surface evidence is no reason to discount the possibility of a southwest Washington magma pool, Bachmann said, adding that the geysers and hot springs in Yellowstone, Iceland and New Zealand are over much shallower magma pools than the Southern Washington Cascades Conductor.
Bachmann called the Southern Washington Cascades Conductor a "mush zone," about 20 to 50 percent magma and the rest crystalline rock. The magma extruded at Mount St. Helens was filled with crystals, he said.
"The magma at Mount St. Helens is sticky, viscous, explosive and didn’t come directly from the (Earth’s) mantle," he said.
All the scientists, including Hill and Burgess, said there was nothing to suggest that a dangerous super volcano was underneath southwest Washington.
The Yellowstone super volcano is one of the largest on Earth, with a caldera, or depression, in the surface that covers 1,500 square miles. During its last eruption, 640,000 years ago, it released 8,000 times more lava and ash than the 1980 eruptions of Mount St. Helens did.
"There is no evidence to suggest there is a super volcano down below southwest Washington," Bachmann said.
As for the disagreement over whether the Southern Washington Cascades Conductor is a large magma pool or something else, Bachmann said that more studies needed to be done, such as surface heat flow studies. Drilling isn’t a possibility, he said.
"It would cost a lot and be too dangerous," he said.

To most people the word “geothermal” means hot springs and geysers — like parts of Iceland or Yellowstone National Park where water is heated by the presence of magma near the surface of the earth. But the earth’s heat lies below everywhere, and it offers a virtually untapped energy reserve of enormous potential with a very short list of drawbacks.

In 2006, a panel led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology surveyed the prospects for electricity production from enhanced geothermal systems. Its conclusions were conservative but very optimistic. The panel suggested that with modest federal support, geothermal power could play a critical role in America’s energy future, adding substantially to the nation’s store of renewable energy and more than making up for coal-burning power plants that would have to be retired.

Following up on the M.I.T. study and a separate survey of its own, the Bureau of Land Management issued a decision last month that would open up as many as 190 million acres to leases for geothermal exploration and development. These lands are mostly in the West, where hot rock lies closer to the surface than it generally does in the East.

There is a lot of research yet to be done about geothermal sources, new techniques for deep drilling and energy generation at the surface. But the basics are clear enough. Water is injected deep into the earth where it absorbs heat from the surrounding rock. As the fluid returns to the surface, that heat is used to generate electricity. The fluid is then re-injected. The system forms a closed loop. It creates almost no emissions and is entirely renewable. It also occupies a smaller surface area than either solar or wind power.

Still, large-scale commercial production is at least a decade away and will require improvements on currently available technology. Geothermal development also will mean still more competition for scarce water, more holes in the ground and more roads to service those holes.

The M.I.T. report’s statement that the success of geothermal production “would parallel the development of the U.S. coal-bed methane industry” is no doubt meant to be reassuring. Yet in parts of the West, coal-bed methane has been an environmental disaster, both for fragile landscapes and the wildlife that depend on them.

Geothermal development must not be allowed to foster another drilling free-for-all of the kind we’ve seen during the past decade. Done right, it could help free the country of the grievous environmental burden of coal-burning power plants. Done wrong, it could create grievous environmental problems of its own. Mindful of the dangers, the next administration should commit to developing this extraordinary resource

A link to the Dept. of Interior report is here.

From the Interior Press Release

….the initiative could produce 5,540 megawatts of new electric generation capacity from geothermal resources by 2015. That’s enough to meet the power needs of 5.5 million homes. The plan also estimates an additional 6,600 megawatts by 2025 for a total of 12,100 megawatts – enough to power more than 12 million homes.
When put into action by a Record of Decision, the plan would identify about 118 million acres of Bureau of Land Management managed public lands and 79 million acres of National Forest System lands for future geothermal leasing….

Washington State’s identified resources are 0.25% of the national assessment and expand to 1.25% of the potential when EGS is included.

The two most important Washington State specific geothermal findings were SnoPud’s  goal of 90 MW from Geothermal in the Cascades by 2020 and the estimate by the National Geothermal Resources Council that Washington State’s geothermal potential could be double previous estimates and exceed 600 MW.

The event was opened by SnoPud Director Steve Klein and Congressman Jay Inslee (via recorded video).  Congressman Inslee, whose district includes part of the service district of SnoPud, talked about making Washington State a geothermal leader and was looking forward to "cut(ting) the ribbon on the first plant" .  Congressman Inslee has also arranged for $500K in funding to assist SnoPud in developing their geothermal plan.

However, the state faces a significant challenge as resource estimates are from a 1979 study.  "Comprehensive research and exploration have not been done (in Washington State)" according to GRC Executive Director Curt Robinson.  And yet, he felt confident enough to cast an estimate of 600 MW, primarily in the Cascades and Central Washington. 

Western Washington’s geothermal potential remains unknown and is largely masked by the rainfall on the western slopes of the Cascades.  Experts still feel that several sites may exist along the I-5 transmission corridor, a critical factor in the siting of any geothermal plant.

Development costs have soared in recent months as capital, material and exploration costs have significantly spiked. Guy Nelson with the Geothermal Working Group stated that the current rule of thumb is now $4 Million per MW.  Geothermal power can range from 6.6 to 11.6 cents per kiloWatt hour.

Rural PUD’s also learned about the new loan assistance program by the USDA for ground source heat pumps.  This program offers a great opportunity for Eastern Washington utilities to help homeowners install and finance home heat pumps that are critical for utilities interested in peak shaving, and homeowners interested in significantly reducing their home heating and cooling costs.

Representatives from Seattle City Light, Tacoma Power and Skamania PUD were in attendance, as was State Senator Adam Kline.  Senator Kline is talking to Senate leadership about introducing the Geothermal Study Bill again this year.   He is confident that a straight forward study bill (no policy, regulations, funding or taxes) that explores both power generation and heat pumps will garner strong interest by legislators throughout the state. 

How about geothermal to produce electricity? Think of Mount St. Helens as the world’s largest geothermal demonstration project.

"That’s where we’re seeing a lot of inquiry," Teissere says. "I think there are a lot of people on the landscape looking around."

But he adds, "The places where you’re likely to drill into steam are in the national parks. In the national forests there might be some lesser opportunities."

Geothermal doesn’t need geyserlike flumes of steam to provide useful energy. "There are high-temperature rocks at depth in Eastern Washington," he says. Water can be injected into those rock formations, heated and brought to the surface….