Ore. town uses geothermal energy to stay warm

Associated Press ^ | Mar 20, 2010 | JEFF BARNARD

[decimon]

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A combination of hot rocks and water like those that created Yellowstone's geysers have been tapped by the city to keep the sidewalks toasty since the early 1990s. They also heat downtown buildings, kettles at a brewhouse, and greenhouses and keep the lights on at a college campus.

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A 2007 Massachusetts Institute of Technology report estimates that EGS, with support, could be producing 100 gigawatts of electricity — equivalent to 1,000 coal-fired or nuclear power plants

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[decimon]

Agua caliente ping.

[Star Traveler]

Ummm..., well someone could have said — Klamath Falls, Oregon... couldn’t they? LOL ...

[SatinDoll]

In some locations it is doable.

There are problems with geothermal power, but the one most people don’t anticipate is the high cost of equipment replacement due to corrosion. The gases emitted at geothermal sites really eat-up metal.

[jimtorr]

Stepping gingerly from the icy street to the dry sidewalk on his way to a bakery for a cinnamon roll, Klamath County Museum Manager said ...... "....... the city should adopt a slogan, `City of Warm Sidewalks,'" he joked. "But I've been told we'll get every hobo in America who will be drifting into town."

I like the way this man thinks.

[jimtorr]

There are warm springs all over the country. Could each of them be a potential geothermal power source?

[Star Traveler]

Here's a map of the Klamath Falls, Oregon area ...

It's on the east side of the Cascade Range of mountains in Oregon (they run from north to south through Oregon and divide up the east side from the west side).

There's a lot of volcanoes along that Cascade Range. The last volcano to erupt in the United States was Mt. St. Helens and that was in the Cascade Range, and the time before that it was Mt. Lassen, another one in that range of mountains... so it's a very hot and active area.

Crater Lake is also a mountain (Mt. Mazama) that blew up and is now a lake in the caldera of the volcano.

[MsLady]

Good idea.

[decimon]

There are warm springs all over the country. Could each of them be a potential geothermal power source?

Dunno. I'd guess that each place differs.

[AuntB]

Klamath Falls is the first town in Oregon I lived in, moving there when I was only weeks old.

It’s rather well known to freepers.

THE STAND AT KLAMATH FALLS

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1659898/posts

[decimon]

THE STAND AT KLAMATH FALLS

Well, it's easier to take a stand when your feet are warm. ;-)

[SC DOC]

I think geothermal makes a lot of sense in the Western US. Raser Technologies has built a plant in Provo, Utah using the relatively new binary technology that not only addresses the corrosion problem, but also allows for power generation at much lower temps than previously seen with geothermal. They have another plant coming on line in New Mexico and have bought up leases all over the western states.

[decimon]

Good. I don’t look for any energy panacea. What works and where it works is fine with me.

[AuntB]

“Well, it’s easier to take a stand when your feet are warm. ;-) “

S:<) yep!

I didn’t even realize Klamath was using all that geothermal heating.

[Bernard Marx]

Boise, ID has been using geothermal heating since 1892. That's not a typo. Warm Springs Avenue is a tree-line street of stately homes that have all been heated that way since they were built many years ago. The article below describes one of the better uses I've found for stimulus money.

Here's an overview: Boise Geothermal

[decimon]

Thanks.

The article below describes one of the better uses I've found for stimulus money.

Better, but I still wouldn't use tax money. If it's cost effective then it should have already been used.

[gilor]

They better be carefull it’s millions of degrees under the earth’s crust!

[decimon]

They better be carefull it’s millions of degrees under the earth’s crust!

Yeah, but that won't melt steel.

[Bernard Marx]

I wouldn’t use tax money either. My comment was relative to other completely wasteful “stimulus” spending.

[CARTOUCHE]

Unfortunately, it also has some drawbacks, namely induced earthquakes. Take a look at this article.

livescience.com/environment/ 071204-geothermal-energy.html