National News - Geothermal Energy Weekly June 25

Senate Democratic Caucus Pushes for Clean Energy Legislation This Year

Members of the Senate Democratic caucus met on June 24 to discuss possible provisions for comprehensive clean energy legislation Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) plans to bring up next month. Lawmakers such as Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), John Kerry (D-Mass.), and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) presented plans they have been touting, and Democratic chiefs of staff are to be briefed Friday on the various climate proposals.

At this point it seems any of the components could be included in a final piece. “There were a number of discussions today as to how we can arrive at what’s best for the country, and of course pricing carbon is part of our discussion,” Reid told reporters.

Reid said that whatever form clean energy legislation will take, the Democratic Caucus agrees:

• it must deal with the catastrophe in the Gulf;
• it must create millions of jobs;
• it must cut pollution; and
• it must strengthen our economic security, our national security and our energy independence

Despite the uncertainty as to what the legislation will include, the caucus was in general agreement to pass something this year. “We’re going to write a bill that sets reasonable goals over a reasonable timeframe that will benefit both our environment and our economy. We’re going to write a bill that can pass the Senate,” Reid said. “My caucus is ready to get to work, but we need the cooperation of brave Republicans and it is our hope they join us in putting good policy over bad politics.”
See http://democrats.senate.gov/newsroom/record.cfm?id=325919& and http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/677-e2-wire/105539-democratic-senate-offices-delve-into-climate-details-following-caucus-meeting.

GEA Workshop to Address Utilities, Co-ops and Public Power

On July 22, the Geothermal Energy Association (GEA) will explore the future of utility-scale geothermal power at an industry conference held in Las Vegas. With geothermal production expanding to 15 states, many new utilities, coops and public utility districts are considering geothermal for the first time. This session brings together utilities, coops, and PUDs familiar with geothermal to discuss how they have achieved success with geothermal developers and companies. Sessions will focus on approaches and challenges for utility-scale projects in the U.S., federal and state support for utilities and renewables, risk management, transmission issues, and more.

According to GEA’s recent Update on Geothermal Power Production and Development, Nevada is already a leader in geothermal power production with 86 geothermal projects in development that together represent a potential of up to 3686.4 MW.

“The growth of the geothermal industry in Nevada has been a sparkling example of how developers can harness this resource at a large scale and make it an extremely attractive option for utilities,” said GEA Executive Director Karl Gawell. “As the only baseload source of renewable power, geothermal is the perfect option for utilities interested in green power.”

With the abundant geothermal resource that Nevada boasts, the state has the opportunity to build an even more extensive geothermal power portfolio. Strong state and national renewable electricity standards continue to push forward these developments and Nevada could, with forward-thinking leadership, be the first in the nation powered 100% by renewable energy.

“Eleven of the projects under development in Nevada were ARRA funded. With incentives like those, as well as extending the geothermal tax-grants and efforts to ensure transmission networks and policies support new geothermal development, we can keep pushing this state and this nation to build the green economy we need,” said Gawell.

Geothermal power plant principle

Unlike other power plants that rely on coal or other fossil fuels to generate electricity for homes and businesses, geothermal power plants use superheated fluids from the earth’s geothermal resources to generate electricity. The natural heat of the earth creates geothermal resources. This heat comes from molten rock, called magma, located at the earth’s core deep below the geothermal resource.

India launches National Solar Mission plan

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recently stated a rather ambitious plan to make India a global leader in solar power as he launched a government initiative to boost use of the solar technology, and make solar energy the most important renewable energy source in country.According to Singh solar energy can not only help secure India's energy independence and decrease the need for expensive