What is geothermal energy? Is it renewable and reliable? Is it aff ordable, and is it worth it? These are some of the questions on the minds of the young making preliminary career choices, cities joining the race to meet state renewable standards, and energy companies looking to broaden their portfolios.
21 June 2011
Deep drilling to exploit geothermal energy involves risks related to engineering, financing and non-discovery. Feasibility studies conducted at an early stage of the project point the way to successful exploitation of geothermal energy. The key task of these studies lies in the systematic disclosure of the risks and opportunities involved in a project, explain Hubert Sacher and René Schiemann of TÜV SÜD Industrie Service.
27 April 2011
This week saw the very sad death of Dr Hermann Scheer, in many ways the father figure of German renewable energy, and a hugely influential figure worldwide. He was a fighter who seemed to relish his battles, and an inspirational, irreplaceable character.
18 October 2010
Geothermal capacity has risen in the USA and looks set to keep growing. Internal investment, excellent national resources and a century of experience are likely to give it even more of an edge in the future, writes Leslie Blodgett of the Geothermal Energy Association.
21 September 2010
The USA is seeing a shift in attitudes to renewable energy at Federal level. Bush-era oil-dominated policies are giving way to positive encouragement of sustainable energy. But, to what extent can the US capitalize on the ensuing manufacturing opportunities, enhanced by recession-induced stimulus funding? George Marsh reports.
22 April 2010
Representative Matt Pierce (D-61st, Bloomington) introduced AB 1190 into the Indiana General Assembly January 7, 2010. The bill is the first comprehensive proposal for a system of feed-in tariffs for renewable energy in the current legislative sessions that have begun in states across the US.
22 January 2010
One of the hot topics for debate at the forthcoming Windpower 08 event in Houston, Texas, will be transmission. Following Texas' lead, four states possessing the wealthiest renewable resources in the Western USA have enacted their own laws to create Renewable Energy Zones, and define the transmission infrastructure that needs to be built to connect those resources to main transmission highways. Lyn Corum reviews the progress made to date in these states.
01 June 2008