Oilweek - July 2009 (Sample)

Geothermal energy
continues to gain
momentum, but slowly

Yukon
Northwest
Territories
British
Columbia
Alberta
Saskatchewan

F T. LIARD

economic and environmental pressures are driving inter-
est in geothermal energy, yet many people still don’t know
much about geothermal other than it can somehow be used
to heat houses. to dispel some of this confusion, to pro-
vide an update on canadian deep, hot geothermal for energy
generation and the potential for geothermal specifically in
alberta, geocanada 2010, held in may at calgary’s Stampede
grounds, dedicated eight 20-minutes sessions to the topic.
the once-in-a-decade geocanada event chose a dark and
cavernous exhibit hall for the geothermal sessions as though
it had run out of space in the otherwise well-appointed
Stampede presentation rooms reserved for the other earth
science sessions, inadvertently reinforcing the “dark horse”
image that geothermal has been saddled with for years.
geothermal power is generated in many countries around
the world. the United States leads the world in sheer num-
bers. canada doesn’t yet have a single developed geothermal
power–generation source. the obstacles are many, headed
by poor economics due to drilling costs because canada
tends store its heat deep underground.
geothermal folk divide the subsurface into three layers:
shallow depth/low temperature ( 4 to 40°c), medium depth/
medium temperature ( 40 to 150°c), and deep/hot temperature
realms (>150ºc).
only the latter two depths are useful for energy generation.
according to matthias grobe, who presented the closing ses-
sion, “geothermal in alberta—opportunities and challenges,”
the minimum ground temperature for binary cycle energy
production is 74°c. But ideal temperatures in alberta require
drilling down five and eight kilometres. in calgary, for exam-
ple, 6.5-kilometre wells would be needed.
So while ground source heating continues to gain in pop-
ularity—a recent example is atco’s 55,000-square-foot
edmonton operating centre (it took 110 43-metre wells)—
geothermal power generation may still be a ways off.

the one bright spot is in Ft. Liard, northwest territories, where high temperatures near the surface make geothermal power generation attractive for this remote native community currently powered by diesel. Borealis geopower’s recent approval by natural

Resource canada’s clean energy Fund for $10 million to $20 million in funding could one day put canada on the geothermal power map.

ene
ALTerNATIVe
Charged up over orders

nissan is so encouraged by orders for its yet-to-be-produced electric car that the automaker is already looking for how to make more.

according to press reports, nissan received more than 13,000 orders in north america and Japan for the car, called the Leaf.

the first Leafs are to be delivered to customers in
december.
People wanting the car have had to plunk down
$100 deposits.
nissan chief executive officer carlos ghosn told
reporters his company is seeking to boost capacity to
meet the demand. currently, it can produce fewer than
12,000 of the cars by next march.
eventually, the Japanese automaker hopes to build
50,000 Leafs a year.