Atlantic Geothermal LLC.
For the past decade, Atlantic Geothermal has been actively researching and designing a geothermal power plant that could be used in New England to produce significant amounts of electricity. Atlantic Geothermal is currently seeking to raise funding to complete a feasibility study for building a 160MW geothermal power plant in Western Massachusetts. Early stage funding will yield exact data on the geology, site design requirements and equipment to be used for building a 160 MW geothermal power plant. It will also prove the thermal exchange rates are adequate for the geothermal project.
Geothermal Power
Atlantic Geothermal is proposing an ambitious geothermal project to say the least. The geothermal industry has traditionally taken only very small incremental steps to improve their technology. This project represents a quantum step forward for the geothermal industry and can completely transform this sector. We propose using a closed loop system of interconnecting pipes instead of the industry standard of an open loop that uses fractured rock.
The deeper any company goes in developing open loop systems the more problematic that system becomes. Closed loop systems are now used in the geothermal HVAC or heat pump industry. Open loops are also used by the geothermal heat pump industry, but not if the geothermal well produces little or no water. The reason an open loop geothermal system work well is because of an active aquifer. An open loop geothermal heat pump system could never compete with a closed loop geothermal heat pump if the open system had to use significant amounts of energy pumping water through fractures in the rock.
The current open loop geothermal systems used to produce electricity are designed for an optimal depletion rate and the well field is decommissioned after 20-30 years. Using up a resource and moving on is not what I call true sustainability.
The closed loop system we are calling CLEM, short for Closed Loop Energy Mine is designed for an optimal recharge rate, making possible electricity production that can last for thousands of years.
The first geothermal power developed used natural steam and geyser fields to produce electricity. On an evolutionary scale this system is about as efficient for producing electricity as hunter gatherers are for producing food. Hunter gatherers sooner or later use up the resources in their area and have to move on.
Designing for an optimal recharge rate is the next evolutionary step and can give geothermal systems long term sustainability. This could compare to a farmer growing crops instead of taking what they can find and moving on as a hunter gather would. Growing crops takes more work and thought, but is far more productive and reliable.
This energy mine is a cutting edge technology and as such strives for the highest possible environmental standers possible. For example gasses emitted during underground drilling construction are captured and contained for testing prior to sale or disposal.
At present, over 20 countries produce electricity geothermally. According to the Department of Energy, geothermal energy in 2005 at 61 U.S. plants produced 16,010 gigawatt hours of electricity. Remarkably, this still accounts for only 0.36% of U.S. annual electricity generation. A key reason that research and development of the geothermal option has been limited is the assumption that geothermal power is only viable in places where resources are close to the surface and geologic conditions ideal (natural aquifers and high rock porosity/permeability). Geothermal power is still considered an "exotic" resource suitable only for places where steam is on or near the earth's surface (Iceland, Western United States, etc.) Research into methods and technologies to tap heat resources deeper beneath the earth's surface has not been encouraged by federal policy since the 1970s.
A Paradigm Shift
This dynamic may be changing. With the recent energy crisis and the emerging consensus on global warming, political support for funding of alternative energy research appears to have reached a critical mass. This development has coincided with new research on the feasibility of non-traditional sources of geothermal energy. In January 2007, a distinguished panel led by MIT Professor Jefferson Tester found that new methods (but using existing oil-drilling technologies) could stimulate and tap geothermal energy at much greater depths and under less ideal conditions than previously supposed.
According to the findings of the panel, such "Enhanced Geothermal Systems" (EGS) have the potential to supply a significant amount of the United States' electricity currently being generated by conventional fossil fuel, hydroelectric and nuclear plants. But unlike conventional plants, only water would be required as fuel.
The findings of the MIT panel further suggested that EGS combined with more traditional methods, could supply as much as 10% of U.S. energy needs by the year 2050. But the panel also stressed that given the uncertainties, public funding will have to take the lead. The Tester report makes a compelling case for publicly-funded research into new geothermal methods and technologies now.
J. David Reynolds
Founder & President
Atlantic Geothermal
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Deep Mass Energy Project - Phase 1
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