Richardson proposes expanding geothermal power in West

WASHINGTON - The Clinton administration is distributing grants to spur the fledgling geothermal energy industry, hoping to tap underground heat for 10 percent of the West's electricity by 2020.

Energy Secretary Bill Richardson announced a series of grants Monday, totaling $4.8 million for research in California, Nevada, Utah, Texas and North Dakota. The money will fund research into finding and producing the geothermal power more cheaply.

"It is a clean, reliable and renewable energy resource available in all western states," Richardson said. "I think in the western United States this is a bonanza."

Geothermal plants are built over underground hot spots, where magma is relatively close to the Earth's surface. Water or steam heated underground is used to power generators.

The process pollutes less than gasoline or natural gas. But the cost of finding drill sites and building plants has hindered exploration and development so far.

Sen. Harry Reid, the Democratic whip from Nevada, said the modest investment could spur private investment in the industry and turn his home state into "the Saudi Arabia of geothermal energy."

Seventeen states have the potential to develop geothermal energy sources, but California, Nevada, Utah and Hawaii are now producing electricity from underground heat.

A total of 2,800 megawatts of geothermal power is produced, 2,500 megawatts of that in California. (100 megawatts would power a city of about 200,000 people.)

Richardson said his goal is to double the number of states with geothermal plants to eight by 2006 and expand production to 20,000 megawatts by 2020, which would represent 10 percent of the electric market in the West.

Geothermal isn't completely clean.

A project that provides 25 percent of electricity needs on Hawaii's Big Island has drawn complaints for years because of smelly hydrogen sulfide gas it releases. The Hawaii County Council agreed to buy up 36 homes nearby.

Geothermal plants also can release radon gas, carbon dioxide, methane and ammonia, notes a report from Arizona State University's electrical engineering department.

"Every electricity generation scheme has its drawbacks," said Keith Holbert, associate chairman of the department.

Among the low-pollution alternatives, hydroelectric and natural gas are cheaper, but government and industry officials hope to cut geothermal costs by determining better where to drill.

"It's got a lot of risk," said Karl Gawell, executive director of the Geothermal Energy Association, a Washington advocacy group of 80 companies.

One company has found a way to help make geothermal pay. A plant under construction near California's Salton Sea will extract zinc from the heating water, said Jonathan Weisgall, a vice president of MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co.

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