Interest Warming for Geothermal Energy

Apr 21, 2008 by Elizabeth Ziegler

(KCPW News) Geothermal power plants could harness roughly the same amount of energy in Utah as one traditional coal-fired power plant, but without the environmental concerns. Bob Blackett, of the Utah Geological Survey, says the state could produce between 600 to 800 megawatts of electricity from geothermal sources.

"It is a domestic resource, it's a resource we already have. We don't have to import anything to use it.And we ought to be taking advantage of it," Blackett says. "It is relatively benign environmentally and it aught to be included in the environmental mix of the future."

Utah is one of six states in the Great Basin region that has tapped into this energy source. California generates the most geothermal power, followed by Nevada and Utah. Blackett says geothermal sources heat large facilities, such as Utah State Prison in Draper. And, he says, some sources can be used to produce electricity. In the 1980s, two geothermal power plants were developed in Utah. One of these, the Blundell plant in Milford, is still functioning. An Italian energy company purchased the Cove Fort-Sulphurdale plant two years ago to be redeveloped into a more efficient power generating plant. Blackett says there could be even more undiscovered geothermal sources in the state.

"They're difficult to explore for, because you're reaching into a hostile environment, lots of fractured rock," Blackett says. "So Utah's geothermal areas haven't been explored completely."

The expense of drilling for the resource poses a barrier to new geothermal power plants, though Blackett says the rising cost of energy could make it more attractive to energy developers. Utah's geothermal energy potential will be the topic of a workshop at Southern Utah University in Cedar City Tuesday and Wednesday.

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