ENERGY PROGRAM NEWSLETTER

CONTACT

Colin Williams
Project Chief
650-329-4881

Geothermal Research

NEW Assessment of Moderate- and High-Temperature Geothermal Resources of the United States
Fact Sheet 2008-3082| Press Release (9/29/08)
Slide Presentation (Flash document 1.44 MB)

Map showing Earth’ s main lithospheric plates and some of the world’s active volcanoes (triangles) (Larger Image). From USGS Circular 1249.

 

Mammoth Pacific binary geothermal power plants at the Casa Diablo geothermal field.

"We face many uncertainties about future energy supplies in the United States and the world. Most of the energy currently used comes from fossil-fuel resources such as coal, oil, and gas. One certainty is that dramatically increasing world population and the continued spread of industrialization will result in increased energy demands both at home and abroad, attempts to conserve energy resources notwithstanding. Another certainty is that our traditional fossil-fuel resources are finite. How can these increasing energy demands of the future be met in ways that are both environmentally sound and economically beneficial? Using current technology, geothermal energy can contribute as much as 10 percent to the Nation’s energy supply, if all known resources are fully developed. Moreover, reasonably expectable advances in both exploration and resource-development technologies will allow us to tap into the huge storehouse of geothermal heat that is known to exist in the Earth’s crust. An added benefit is that geothermal energy is far cleaner than any of the fossil fuels that now dominate our energy supply." (USGS Circular 1249)

Top of Page