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Volcano Power In USA Underway
Newberry Enhanced Geothermal Systems Demonstration reports they have got both pumps running at full capability and brought the well head pressure up to 1800 psi. Shortly afterwards, two microseismic events with magnitudes close to zero occurred near the bottom of the bore hole.
In the meantime, a natural microseismic event near the site was detected on October 24th at 11:05 pm, and displayed on the LBNL EGS site, the USGS site, and the PNSN site. The USGS/PNSN assigned a magnitude of -0.3 and LBNL a magnitude of 0.75. The USGS/PNSN magnitude is more accurate because it includes broadband seismometers and a site closer to the epicenter (WKBU on Figure below).
The epicenter was about 6 km from 55-29. Seven other very small (M<1 .5=”.5″ 2012=”2012″ been=”been” begun=”begun” below.=”below.” date=”date” detected=”detected” earth=”earth” event=”event” events=”events” google=”google” has=”has” have=”have” image=”image” improved=”improved” labeled=”labeled” like=”like” monitoring=”monitoring” natural=”natural” newberry=”newberry” of=”of” on=”on” p=”p” red=”red” see=”see” seismic=”seismic” since=”since” style=”color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, ‘Times New Roman’, Times, serif; font-size: 1em; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px;” symbols=”symbols” the=”the” this=”this” with=”with”>
This Environmental Assessment has been prepared to disclose and analyze environmental effects of developing and testing a geothermal reservoir created by using enhanced geothermal system (EGS) technologies, as proposed by Davenport Newberry Holdings LLC (Davenport) and AltaRock Energy, Inc. (AltaRock). A Notice of Intent (NOI) and “Plan of Exploration, Operations Plan, and Drilling Program for the Newberry Volcano EGS Demonstration Project” (Project, EGS Project) were submitted to the Prineville Office of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in May, 2010.
The Newberry Volcano Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) Demonstration is being conducted in the Deschutes National Forest in central Oregon. EGS technology has the potential to greatly increase geothermal power generation in the U.S. and around the world. Geothermal systems provide a source of renewable, baseload power generation that’s environmentally friendly, and generates tax revenue and family-wage jobs at home that can help ensure our national energy independence. EGS is the future of geothermal energy.
The proposed Project is located in central Oregon on Deschutes National Forest lands along the western flank of Newberry Volcano. Except for some seismic monitoring stations (Figure 2 and described in Section 2.3), the Project is located outside the Newberry National Volcanic Monument (Monument or NNVM), on federal geothermal leases administered by the BLM that were issued between 1982 and 2003.
The purpose of the Newberry EGS demonstration is to demonstrate AltaRock’s new technology designed to lower the cost of EGS, and thus allow economic extraction of heat from the earth in locations where high temperatures can be reached by conventional drilling techniques but there is no natural circulating geothermal system. Marking a key milestone in Phase II of the EGS Demonstration, an advanced micro-seismic array has been installed, tested, and operations approved by seismologists from two national labs.
“The economic implications of the Newberry EGS Demonstration are quite significant,” said Susan Petty, president and founder of AltaRock Energy. “Creating multiple geothermal reservoirs from a single injection well multiplies the amount of energy that can be extracted from each production well. Not only do multiple reservoirs extend the life of the well and increase the energy recovery from each well, they significantly improve the economics of EGS power generation. This could allow geothermal to translate into a comprehensive source of renewable energy for the future.”
The first phase of the Newberry EGS Project involving planning for the well stimulation, environmental studies and public outreach, reached completion earlier this year. Key participants with Davenport Newberry and AltaRock energy on the project include federal agencies (Bureau of Land Management, Forest Service, and Dept. of Energy), state agencies (Oregon Depts. of Geology and Mineral Industries, Environmental Quality, and Water Resources), government scientific labs (US Geological Survey and Lawrence Berkeley, Lawrence Livermore, Los Alamos, and Sandia National Laboratories), universities (Oregon State, Temple, and Texas A&M).
As is typical of many media outlets, the headlines are designed to be provocative and grab your attention. If you read or listen to these stories, you will find that the authors have no evidence to support any claim that our project is unsafe.
The companies make three simple points:
1. AltaRock Energy is not drilling into a volcano. The well on Newberry was drilled in 2008 to a depth of over 10,000 ft about 5 miles from the most recent volcanic flows. We are pumping cold water into this non-producing geothermal well in an attempt to prove new technology for Enhanced Geothermal Systems developed by AltaRock and many others, and eventually generate renewable energy in central Oregon. We did drill five seismic monitoring boreholes to depths of 700-900 feet, but the temperatures at the bottom of those wells is cold (55F) and their purpose is monitoring not geothermal production.
2. Drilling into volcanoes is not dangerous or uncommon. Worldwide geothermal energy production often occurs on volcanoes. The Philippines, Iceland, and El Salvador all produce over 20% of their electricity from the geothermal heat of volcanoes. Geothermal drilling or production has never been responsible for a volcanic eruption. Read more in FAQ#8.
3. We aren’t “fracking.” Hydraulic fracturing is a process used in the oil and gas industry that uses surface water pressures over 5,000 psi to fracture or crack open the rock to extract oil and gas. We are using a different process called hydroshearing to initiate small slips in existing cracks in the rock. We expect surface pressures around 1,600 psi will initiate hydroshearing, or slip on existing fractures — far less than needed to fracture the rock. Further, hydroshearing does not require injection of the chemical additives used in fracking. Lastly, we will not be producing fossil fuels, but hot water and steam heated by the hot rock under Newberry Volcano. Read morehere and in FAQ#1
Newberry EGS EA (PDF) (5 MB)
Newberry EGS EA Appendix A (PDF) (60MB)
Newberry EGS EA Appendix B (PDF) (3 MB)
2012-11-01 12:44:51
Source: http://nanopatentsandinnovations.blogspot.com/2012/11/volcano-power-in-usa-underway.html
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