| 9/18/2009 9:25:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article | Bureau of Land Management offers geothermal parcel lease
By Ron Sering
The Bureau of Land Management announced a first of its kind lease offer of an 800-acre parcel of land in Chaffee County.
The area has been the subject of exploration dating back to the 1970s, and recent research by the Colorado School of Mines summer field camp indicated vast potential in the area.
Mt. Princeton Geothermal, LLC, conducted thermal gradient testing this summer in conjunction with the CSM field camp and discovered what is to date the hottest known water source in the state.
The area's proximity to available power lines increases the practicality of tapping the resource, using a binary method of generating electricity.
The hot water is pumped to the surface and cycled through a heat exchanger to heat a special fluid with a boiling point lower than that of water. The resulting steam is used to drive turbines that generate electricity.
In a presentation to property owners last Spring, Fred Henderson, chief scientist of Mt. Princeton Geothermal, LLC, said, "The plant would be environmentally friendly with zero emissions."
After cycling through the heat exchanger, the water is re-injected into the aquifer to be reheated. "This is a noncomsumptive resource," Henderson added.
The technology is in use in projects in Nevada and Alaska. The Chaffee County area is unique in that much of the area is private property.
"The Denver Business Journal" reported the parcel to be offered for lease consists of nearly 800 acres near Mt. Princeton hot springs.
The BLM announcement comes on the heels of similar sales in California, Nevada and Utah. In a statement on the BLM's Web site, Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar said, "Geothermal resources on America's public lands offer significant environmental and cost benefits for energy producers."
The BLM currently manages 58 leases that generate 1275 megawatts of electricity (4,600 gigawatts annually).
The lease sale will take place on November 12.
|
Reader Comments
Posted: Sunday, September 20, 2009
Article comment by:
Stephen Glover
It should come as no surprise that the government is leasing this specific acreage, undoubtedly tailored to meet the desires of Mt. Princeton Geothermal LLC. If one were to "follow the money" I suspect that, through tax rebates and subsidies, each of us as tax-payers are contributing funds for this lease. Inasmuch as the Company hosts no information itself (the only information to be found is hosted by the Colorado Governors Energy web site) it's clear that the "fix" is in. Nevermind the damage that will occur to one of the truly uniquely beautiful sites in Chaffee County, or the likelihood that this project can only "work" if heavily subsidized. Like it or not, it's coming our way unless it's economics are so preposterous that massive embarrassment finally stops it. It's truly sad to watch this process; a private (and secretive) company looking to generate private profit using our county's most precious natural resource - water - funded in large part by public tax subsidies at all levels (read: your money) and damage a unique recreational area, all to generate perhaps (a VERY BIG PERHAPS) 10 MW rate of electricity. This amount of generation would be considered a rounding error at a large coal-fired plant. All this being pushed, with extraordinary vigor by the Governor's office, by politicians who wouldn't know how many BTUs equate to a kilowatt of electricity. I never thought I'd live to see our County sacrificed on the alter of renewable energy at such a high cost. Maybe the entire county can participate in this - surely Poncha Springs and Cottonwood Hotsprings need to be looked at. If the real cost of these projects is not a factor then any hot water can be processed to generate electricity.
|
Article Comment Submission Form
|
