Alaska Lawmakers Seek More US Geothermal Funds
Date: 29-Mar-07
Country: US
Author: Bernie Woodall
Alaska has vast potential for geothermal power projects and its senators, Lisa Murkowski and Ted Stevens, want US$22.7 million in funding for geothermal power for the current fiscal year and US$50 million for fiscal year 2008.
The fiscal year runs from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30. The current fiscal year is 2007. Proponents of expanded funding say it remains unclear whether green-leaning Democratic leaders will accept their plan or not given ongoing budget concerns.
The White House through its Department of Energy however wants to spend only US$5 million in 2007 and none in 2008 for geothermal power, a renewable energy source that emits virtually no global warming greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide.
Murkowski and Stevens have also asked for US$50 million to fund ocean energy, also called wave or tidal power, and US$25 million for small hydroelectric development, which do not dam major rivers.
"I fear the (current) budget shortchanges three areas of great energy potential: geothermal, ocean energy and small hydro electric development," Murkowski said on the Senate floor last week.
Murkowski said she recognizes that the Senate's proposed 2008 budget would increase funding for renewable energy and for energy efficiency programs by US$385 million over Bush's proposal but still needs to consider geothermal energy.
The Bush administration and Congress both have pledged support for renewable energy as a way to reduce foreign oil use and protect the environment but much of the focus has been on farmbelt-friendly policies that would expand biofuels from corn and other biomass.
Alaska does not grow much corn but it does has extensive potential for geothermal power, which makes electricity with on-ground turbines turned from steam made by underground hot water.
Before this year, federal research for geothermal power averaged about US$25 million annually over the past 10 years.
Murkowski also points to a recent Massachusetts Institute of Technology study that said geothermal power could generate about 100,000 megawatts of electricity by 2050. That's about the same now generated by US nuclear power plants but with none of the waste storage issues that cause the government perennial headaches, proponents say.
Right now, geothermal power accounts for only about 0.4 percent of US electric generation.
A megawatt can power about 800 average US homes.
Ocean energy is another no-emission renewable source of power that is in its infancy -- and also not funded in Bush's budget -- but with huge potential for coastal states like Alaska, boosters of the technology say.
It harnesses the energy of waves and tides to produce electricity in various ways, including buoy-like devices and submerged turbines.
The Electric Power Research Institute estimates there is enough power in the ocean to make 252 billion megawatts. Fifteen percent of that total could meet all US electricity needs, said Murkowski.
--Additional reporting by Maureen Lorenzetti in Washington.