Texas leased 128,758 acres of submerged state land off the coasts of the counties of Galveston, Brazoria and Matagorda for geothermal energy production.
Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson and the School Land Board’ awarded the lease April 9 to Geo Texas Co., a company based in Bend, Ore.
Geo Texas Co. was the lone bid for the land, and it will build a geothermal energy demonstration project.
‘We are proposing to build a 20 megawatt demonstration power project in the next two to three years,’ said Steve Munson, chairman of Geo Texas Co. ‘The technology we will be using is a modified turbo expander power plant. It will be first of its kind in the world as a demonstration project.’
There are three major types of geothermal power plants.
Flash steam plants are the most common type. They use steam from water sources with approximate temperatures of 360 F. These sources are usually found where the ocean bed has volcanic activity or tectonic plate moments.’
Dry steam plants use hot air pressure, usually from a geyser, to propel turbine generators.
Binary-cycle power plants use hot water that is below 360 F to heat a secondary liquid with a lower boiling point to create steam that powers the generator. Geo Texas plans to build a modified Binary-cycle plant.
Michael Economides, UH chemical and biomolecular engineering professor, has conducted geothermal energy studies at Stanford University.
‘ ‘Geothermal energy, along with all other forms of alternative energy which includes wind and solar, will not be able to replace the use of coal, oil and natural gas,’ Economides said.
Economides said geothermal power is inefficient, even in optimal conditions.
‘Geothermal power plants, even when the technology is fully-developed, produce one-tenth of the energy of a regular-sized, fully developed coal power plant,’ he said. ‘People use coal and oil is because they are the easiest, most efficient form of energy.”
To Economides, geothermal energy and alternative energy sources are economically unsound compared to coal and gas.
‘For wind energy to be independently commercially viable, the price of natural gas would be 8 times of what it is right now. For solar (energy), natural gas prices (would have to be) 30 times what they are to be completely viable,’ he said.
A 2007 geothermal study led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology supports Economides, stating that geothermal energy can provide one-tenth the energy consumption in the U.S.’
MIT Director of Energy Laboratory Jeff Tester, who headed the study, said geothermal energy is a significant source of energy when comparing the amount of pollution put out by conventional power plants.’
‘We’re running out of time here with our existing fleet of nuclear reactors and all the coal-fired plants that we have that are exceeding emission guidelines,’ Tester said to Reuters.
In a press release, Tester highlighted the differences in geothermal power plants from coal and nuclear power plants.’
‘(Geothermal power’s) environmental advantage is due to low emissions and the small overall footprint of the entire geothermal system. It results because energy capture and extracted is contained entirely underground, and the surface equipment needed for conversion to electricity is relatively compact,’ Tester said.’
The World Watch Institute analyzed the MIT study and reported that by investing $1 billion over 15 years, geothermal energy could power roughly 25 million U.S. homes by 2050.
Brian Anderson is a chemical engineering assistant professor at West Virginia University and a panelist on the MIT study. He said every industry has its model to make it economical.
‘EGS (enhanced geothermal systems) may not be economical with today’s technology, and that is to assume that we don’t move forward, but with an aggressive development plan over the next 50 years, it can be,’ Anderson said.
Anderson said geothermal energy systems can evolve just as the oil and gas industry has.
‘If we use the same technology to drill for oil and gas from 60 years ago, it wouldn’t be economic either,’ he said.
Geo Texas Co.’s decision to bid for land to develop a thermal energy demonstration project in Texas is invested in state bill SB 541, which is being reviewed by the Texas Legislature.
‘This project assumes the Legislature will adopt a non-wind renewable portable standard carve out,’ Munson said.
A carve-out is a child company that has its own operations and Board of Directors.
‘The power provider will be required to purchased non-wind renewable power,’ Munson said.
SB 541 would require the Public Utility Commission to adopt rules to provide a ‘Made in Texas’ incentive for Texas-made equipment used for renewable electricity generation.
The bill would increase the state’s goal for renewable electricity generated by sources other than wind to 3,000 MW from 500 MW by year 2020. It would also require PUC to establish renewable-energy-credit trading programs to meet the goal.
SB 541 is pending in committee in the Texas Senate. The legislative session ends on June 1st.’
Munson said he hopes the bill is approved because it will not be considered again for at least two years.
Information on SB 541 can be found at http://www.legis.state.tx.us/BillLookup/BillNumber.aspx
