July 2010 Archives
A hot proposal comes before Bow
By Dave Reynolds on July 1, 2010 12:15 PM | Permalink | No Comments
Concord Monitor editorial
A hot proposal comes before Bow
By Monitor staff
July 1, 2010
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Could Atlantic Geothermal's plan to build what could be a massive, pollution-free power plant in Bow be the next best thing to cold fusion, the limitless energy source that has not, and may never, pan out? Heat left over from the formation of the Earth, supplemented by heat from the slow decay of radioactive elements, keeps the rock far below ground hot. Humans have made use of that heat for thousands of years. Cavemen soaked their sore feet in warm springs, and Romans heated their home with hot water that bubbled up from below.
Geothermal energy has been used on a grander scale to heat communities and to make steam to spin turbines to produce electricity for generations. And small, shallow geothermal systems used to heat homes, schools and other buildings have become increasingly common in New England. But, alas, the region has no hot springs or geysers. It does have areas underlain by Concord granite, a bedrock that the fledgling geothermal company says is particularly suitable for conducting heat upward from miles below ground. Deep wells drilled into that granite allow water to be pumped in, heated enough to be used to economically generate electricity and returned to below in a closed loop system.
Such a power plant could run indefinitely, its fuel supply, heat in rock at 300 to 400 degrees, constantly replenished from below at no cost. David Reynolds, Atlantic's president says the plant he hopes to build could eventually produce electricity for as little as 5 cents per kilowatt hour. The cheap energy would lure businesses to the area, creating hundreds of jobs, and the power plant would pay some $30 million in property taxes.
Is this a pie-in-the-ground idea? Maybe not. In 2007, a team of 18 scientists assembled by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology issued a report that concluded that tapping just 2 percent of the energy available in "hot rocks" could supply more than 2,500 times as much energy as the nation currently uses. And it would be virtually pollution free. Drilling technology, while constantly improving, may not be advanced enough to make hot rock energy mining successful yet. Reynolds believes it can be done, and the payoff for success is enormous. Others are skeptical.
We hope Reynolds is right, more for the sake of the planet than for the property taxes and economic prosperity success would mean. The Concord granite formation can be found under Concord and in other places in the state, and the plant does not necessarily have to be in Bow. Reynolds said he queried Concord first, via the internet, but heard from Bow selectman Harry Judd, an energy attorney, first. Judd sped the process along to help Atlantic meet deadlines to secure federal grants to pay for testing.
Reynolds isn't the only one eager to tap the heat near the heart of the Earth. Research on hot rock energy mining is going on all over the globe and the charitable division of Google.org has invested millions in efforts to tap the Earth's heat for cheap energy.
As of last year, no plant like the one Reynolds wants to build was operating in the United States, according to the magazine Scientific American. The difficulties, however, appear to be technical, not theoretical. Scientists know a limitless supply of cheap clean energy is underfoot. The brilliant inventor Nikola Tesla proposed tapping the heat in the Earth's bedrock as early as 1901. The question is, does Atlantic Geothermal or any other company yet have the tools to tap that energy. We certainly hope so, because bathing coastlines in crude and burning coal certainly isn't the answer.
A hot proposal comes before Bow
By Monitor staff
July 1, 2010
article tools
Could Atlantic Geothermal's plan to build what could be a massive, pollution-free power plant in Bow be the next best thing to cold fusion, the limitless energy source that has not, and may never, pan out? Heat left over from the formation of the Earth, supplemented by heat from the slow decay of radioactive elements, keeps the rock far below ground hot. Humans have made use of that heat for thousands of years. Cavemen soaked their sore feet in warm springs, and Romans heated their home with hot water that bubbled up from below.
Geothermal energy has been used on a grander scale to heat communities and to make steam to spin turbines to produce electricity for generations. And small, shallow geothermal systems used to heat homes, schools and other buildings have become increasingly common in New England. But, alas, the region has no hot springs or geysers. It does have areas underlain by Concord granite, a bedrock that the fledgling geothermal company says is particularly suitable for conducting heat upward from miles below ground. Deep wells drilled into that granite allow water to be pumped in, heated enough to be used to economically generate electricity and returned to below in a closed loop system.
Such a power plant could run indefinitely, its fuel supply, heat in rock at 300 to 400 degrees, constantly replenished from below at no cost. David Reynolds, Atlantic's president says the plant he hopes to build could eventually produce electricity for as little as 5 cents per kilowatt hour. The cheap energy would lure businesses to the area, creating hundreds of jobs, and the power plant would pay some $30 million in property taxes.
Is this a pie-in-the-ground idea? Maybe not. In 2007, a team of 18 scientists assembled by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology issued a report that concluded that tapping just 2 percent of the energy available in "hot rocks" could supply more than 2,500 times as much energy as the nation currently uses. And it would be virtually pollution free. Drilling technology, while constantly improving, may not be advanced enough to make hot rock energy mining successful yet. Reynolds believes it can be done, and the payoff for success is enormous. Others are skeptical.
We hope Reynolds is right, more for the sake of the planet than for the property taxes and economic prosperity success would mean. The Concord granite formation can be found under Concord and in other places in the state, and the plant does not necessarily have to be in Bow. Reynolds said he queried Concord first, via the internet, but heard from Bow selectman Harry Judd, an energy attorney, first. Judd sped the process along to help Atlantic meet deadlines to secure federal grants to pay for testing.
Reynolds isn't the only one eager to tap the heat near the heart of the Earth. Research on hot rock energy mining is going on all over the globe and the charitable division of Google.org has invested millions in efforts to tap the Earth's heat for cheap energy.
As of last year, no plant like the one Reynolds wants to build was operating in the United States, according to the magazine Scientific American. The difficulties, however, appear to be technical, not theoretical. Scientists know a limitless supply of cheap clean energy is underfoot. The brilliant inventor Nikola Tesla proposed tapping the heat in the Earth's bedrock as early as 1901. The question is, does Atlantic Geothermal or any other company yet have the tools to tap that energy. We certainly hope so, because bathing coastlines in crude and burning coal certainly isn't the answer.
Continue reading A hot proposal comes before Bow.
Company seeks heat under Bow
By Dave Reynolds on July 1, 2010 11:58 AM | Permalink | No Comments
Concord Monitor on line news paper wrote;
Date: June 29, 2010
Section: Front page
Company seeks heat under Bow
Town opens land up for exploration
By:Trent Spiner Monitor staff
Bow officials have agreed to open the town's land to energy exploration after a Massachusetts scientist said geological maps show there's enough stored energy underground to indefinitely produce more power than the Seabrook Station nuclear power plant. If the right mix of rock formations exist beneath Bow, J. David Reynolds said his company, Atlantic Geothermal LLC, would like to build a geothermal power plant at a cost of between $768 million and $5.5 billion. It would transfer heat from the deepest part of the earth's outer crust - 30,000 to 40,000 feet deep - to the surface, where it would power turbines to create electricity.
"It's pretty exciting technology," said Harry Judd, chairman of the board of selectmen and an attorney specializing in energy issues.
Selectmen voted last week to allow Atlantic Geothermal to conduct non-intrusive testing throughout the town and agreed to help the company approach landowners if additional testing is required on private property.
Testing will not require drilling or cutting trees, Reynolds said. A series of devices on the surface of the earth will measure the magnetic and electric conductivity of rock formations up to 40,000 feet deep. With that information, Reynolds said, a three-dimensional model of the bedrock can be formed, enabling scientists to determine the best spots to tap for energy.
"We want to draw heat from deeper down even though we're not going to the core of the earth," he said.
With a price tag of $1 million, testing can't move forward until the company is awarded a grant from the federal Department of Energy, said Reynolds, the company's founder and manager. His deal with the town expires in 180 days.
Reynolds said earlier studies have shown there are underground vertical formations of granite in the Concord area that measure between 300 and 400 degrees. He said other scientists have found no evidence that the heat was being produced by radioactive isotopes breaking down within the earth's mantle, so he hopes those rocks are being heated from the earth's core.
"We want to expand the knowledge of the geology in the area," he said. "We believe it will verify what we believe to be there."
If tests show that the granite formations are conduits for energy from the core, Reynolds said, an intricate series of piping can be constructed underground to capture the energy. That piping would draw heat to the surface, where it would boil liquid to power turbines. On the surface, the power plant would have a cooling tower and take up less than 10 acres.
Daniel Enderton, executive director of MIT's Sustainable Energy Revolution Program, said there is a wide spectrum of uses for geothermal energy, from moderating the temperature in a home or business to attempting to produce power.
There are two general theories on how to make a large-scale geothermal plant work, though they can share characteristics, Enderton said.
"Hydrothermal systems" seek to capture superheated water that is already beneath the surface while "engineered geothermal systems" fracture pieces of rock below the surface and heat water by pumping it between the cracks.
"There's a lot of work that still needs to be done by researchers and entrepreneurs and engineers to make this technology work," Enderton said. "It's a very exciting and active part of geothermal development."
Reynolds likened the operation to a closed radiator in a car that circulates heat.
If construction moves forward, Reynolds said the power plant can be built in phases starting with a 160-megawatt facility. That's about a third of what the coal-fired Merrimack Station in Bow produces. A plant that size would generate 100 jobs and about $30 million in annual tax revenue, Reynolds estimated. It would cost $760 million, he said.
Reynolds said the plant could also be built as a 330- or 1,330-megawatt facility. The largest facility would take six years to build, employ 200 people and produce almost $200 million in annual tax revenue.
The plant would run around the clock and produce no emissions.
Atlantic Geothermal has evaluated five locations throughout New England, but so far Bow seems to be the most promising. Judd said the proximity to major power transmission lines would make building a plant in Bow easier.
"I'm an optimist," Reynolds said. "The main driving factor behind why we're doing this is to develop alternative energy."
Reynolds approached Judd last week about representing the company as it tried to move to the Concord area. In a letter to selectmen, Judd said he would forgo the business to help bring the project to Bow.
Selectmen voted to authorize Judd to negotiate a deal with the company on the town's behalf. In a lengthy meeting Friday morning, Judd, with the backing of Town Manager Jim Pitts and the town's attorney, wrote a memo setting guidelines for the use of town lands. Selectmen have the authority to lease land for up to a year. A vote at town meeting is required for a longer period.
"They're not going to pay the town anything now," Pitts said. "If they get interested in a site, of course we'll talk money."
In the memo, Atlantic Geothermal agree to give the town two days notice before it starts testing. It must also turn over test results within 14 days.
Trent Spiner can be reached at 369-3306 or tspiner@cmonitor.com.
Concord Monitor
Date: June 29, 2010
Section: Front page
Company seeks heat under Bow
Town opens land up for exploration
By:Trent Spiner Monitor staff
Bow officials have agreed to open the town's land to energy exploration after a Massachusetts scientist said geological maps show there's enough stored energy underground to indefinitely produce more power than the Seabrook Station nuclear power plant. If the right mix of rock formations exist beneath Bow, J. David Reynolds said his company, Atlantic Geothermal LLC, would like to build a geothermal power plant at a cost of between $768 million and $5.5 billion. It would transfer heat from the deepest part of the earth's outer crust - 30,000 to 40,000 feet deep - to the surface, where it would power turbines to create electricity.
"It's pretty exciting technology," said Harry Judd, chairman of the board of selectmen and an attorney specializing in energy issues.
Selectmen voted last week to allow Atlantic Geothermal to conduct non-intrusive testing throughout the town and agreed to help the company approach landowners if additional testing is required on private property.
Testing will not require drilling or cutting trees, Reynolds said. A series of devices on the surface of the earth will measure the magnetic and electric conductivity of rock formations up to 40,000 feet deep. With that information, Reynolds said, a three-dimensional model of the bedrock can be formed, enabling scientists to determine the best spots to tap for energy.
"We want to draw heat from deeper down even though we're not going to the core of the earth," he said.
With a price tag of $1 million, testing can't move forward until the company is awarded a grant from the federal Department of Energy, said Reynolds, the company's founder and manager. His deal with the town expires in 180 days.
Reynolds said earlier studies have shown there are underground vertical formations of granite in the Concord area that measure between 300 and 400 degrees. He said other scientists have found no evidence that the heat was being produced by radioactive isotopes breaking down within the earth's mantle, so he hopes those rocks are being heated from the earth's core.
"We want to expand the knowledge of the geology in the area," he said. "We believe it will verify what we believe to be there."
If tests show that the granite formations are conduits for energy from the core, Reynolds said, an intricate series of piping can be constructed underground to capture the energy. That piping would draw heat to the surface, where it would boil liquid to power turbines. On the surface, the power plant would have a cooling tower and take up less than 10 acres.
Daniel Enderton, executive director of MIT's Sustainable Energy Revolution Program, said there is a wide spectrum of uses for geothermal energy, from moderating the temperature in a home or business to attempting to produce power.
There are two general theories on how to make a large-scale geothermal plant work, though they can share characteristics, Enderton said.
"Hydrothermal systems" seek to capture superheated water that is already beneath the surface while "engineered geothermal systems" fracture pieces of rock below the surface and heat water by pumping it between the cracks.
"There's a lot of work that still needs to be done by researchers and entrepreneurs and engineers to make this technology work," Enderton said. "It's a very exciting and active part of geothermal development."
Reynolds likened the operation to a closed radiator in a car that circulates heat.
If construction moves forward, Reynolds said the power plant can be built in phases starting with a 160-megawatt facility. That's about a third of what the coal-fired Merrimack Station in Bow produces. A plant that size would generate 100 jobs and about $30 million in annual tax revenue, Reynolds estimated. It would cost $760 million, he said.
Reynolds said the plant could also be built as a 330- or 1,330-megawatt facility. The largest facility would take six years to build, employ 200 people and produce almost $200 million in annual tax revenue.
The plant would run around the clock and produce no emissions.
Atlantic Geothermal has evaluated five locations throughout New England, but so far Bow seems to be the most promising. Judd said the proximity to major power transmission lines would make building a plant in Bow easier.
"I'm an optimist," Reynolds said. "The main driving factor behind why we're doing this is to develop alternative energy."
Reynolds approached Judd last week about representing the company as it tried to move to the Concord area. In a letter to selectmen, Judd said he would forgo the business to help bring the project to Bow.
Selectmen voted to authorize Judd to negotiate a deal with the company on the town's behalf. In a lengthy meeting Friday morning, Judd, with the backing of Town Manager Jim Pitts and the town's attorney, wrote a memo setting guidelines for the use of town lands. Selectmen have the authority to lease land for up to a year. A vote at town meeting is required for a longer period.
"They're not going to pay the town anything now," Pitts said. "If they get interested in a site, of course we'll talk money."
In the memo, Atlantic Geothermal agree to give the town two days notice before it starts testing. It must also turn over test results within 14 days.
Trent Spiner can be reached at 369-3306 or tspiner@cmonitor.com.
Concord Monitor
Continue reading Company seeks heat under Bow .
Massachusetts State Committee review
By Dave Reynolds on July 1, 2010 11:52 AM | Permalink | No Comments
(BOSTON, MA, June 22, 2010) Today Atlantic Geothermal LLC presented its Closed Loop Energy Mine (CLEM) project to members of the Massachusetts state government, with guarded optimism for the future of their idea in the state.
Company founder David Reynolds and market development manager Kevin Downey delivered the presentation to Massachusetts state senator Marc Pacheco and state representatives Frank Smizik and Matthew Patrick. Pacheco and Smizik are the chairmen of the Senate and House Committees on Global Warming and Climate Change, respectively. The goal was to gain state government support for a feasibility study of the CLEM project.
The presentation showcased the particulars of the CLEM project, from the technical aspects of the mine itself, to the advantages that CLEM presents versus other sources of power and even open-loop geothermal systems. Two of the five New England sites selected by Atlantic Geothermal for feasibility studies are in Massachusetts, in the towns of Wendell and Fitchburg.
Over the course of the hour-long presentation, Reynolds was met with enthusiasm, and many questions from the three elected officials. This shows that all three politicians were engaged with and interested in the possibilities of the CLEM project. At the end of the presentation, two of the three said they would be willing to support Atlantic Geothermal's endeavors, with the third guarded but optimistic about the project's future.
Atlantic Geothermal will move forward by scheduling another round of meetings and presentations with state officials and scientists in order to create contacts and generate further support for the project. In the meantime, the company will also attempt to secure investments by a July 9 deadline that will help it retain a substantial federal grant for the CLEM project.
Company founder David Reynolds and market development manager Kevin Downey delivered the presentation to Massachusetts state senator Marc Pacheco and state representatives Frank Smizik and Matthew Patrick. Pacheco and Smizik are the chairmen of the Senate and House Committees on Global Warming and Climate Change, respectively. The goal was to gain state government support for a feasibility study of the CLEM project.
The presentation showcased the particulars of the CLEM project, from the technical aspects of the mine itself, to the advantages that CLEM presents versus other sources of power and even open-loop geothermal systems. Two of the five New England sites selected by Atlantic Geothermal for feasibility studies are in Massachusetts, in the towns of Wendell and Fitchburg.
Over the course of the hour-long presentation, Reynolds was met with enthusiasm, and many questions from the three elected officials. This shows that all three politicians were engaged with and interested in the possibilities of the CLEM project. At the end of the presentation, two of the three said they would be willing to support Atlantic Geothermal's endeavors, with the third guarded but optimistic about the project's future.
Atlantic Geothermal will move forward by scheduling another round of meetings and presentations with state officials and scientists in order to create contacts and generate further support for the project. In the meantime, the company will also attempt to secure investments by a July 9 deadline that will help it retain a substantial federal grant for the CLEM project.
Continue reading Massachusetts State Committee review .
