UOIT System Diagram


Recently we ran across a short article that describes at a high level a project the University of Ontario Institute of Technology has to use geothermal resources for heating and cooling.

The system consists of three hundred and eighty-four holes, each 213 metres (700 feet) deep, will provide the basis for a highly efficient and environmentally friendly heating and cooling system, capable of regulating the temperature of university’s new buildings. A glycol solution, encased in polyethylene tubing, circulates through an interconnected, underground network. During the winter, fluid circulating through tubing extended into the wells collects heat from the earth and carries it into the buildings. In summer, the system will reverse to pull heat from the building and place it in the ground.

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There is a new not-for-profit web site aimed at mobilizing the community to drive change in ZeroFootprint.net. Check it out, it’s now in beta, but has a promising look and mission to it. You can find products, buy offsets, and interact with others in the community. We’ll see more of this sort of thing in the future.

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Yet another turbine design is the vertical 5m variety offered by Quiet Revolution in the UK. This turbine is rated at 6kw and cuts in around 4m/sec and out at 16m/sec. The company claims there is very little noise or vibration from this turbine design and that avian death is not likely. The company has plans for a 2.5m and a 12m design in the near future.

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If you watch one YouTube video this year, this should be the one. It’s a 20 minute time investment that is worthwhile. John Doerr, a principal at Kleiner Perkins was videotaped giving this talk at the TED Conference last year.

If you want to know why the principals of MeV are engaged in this space, watch the video, Doerr states the case clearly and with passion.

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From Geothermal-biz.com Newsletter:

The Final Rules on Geothermal Resource Leasing and Geothermal Resources Unit Agreements which regulate geothermal energy production on public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Minerals Management Service (MMS) go into effect on 1 June 2007.

The rules, which were written in response to the Energy Policy Act of 2005, mandate comprehensive changes to leasing and royalty policies to encourage geothermal energy use without imposing additional administrative burdens on industry or government agencies. The new rules require competitive leasing for geothermal development rights on nearly all federal lands designated for this type of development. If no bids are received, these resources would be available for leasing on a non-competitive basis for two-year periods.

The revamped MMS’s regulations offer an easy-to-use fee schedule (in lieu of royalties) for the direct use of geothermal resources that provides incentives to encourage the development and expansion of this alternative energy source. The MMS rules also simplify the royalty calculations for electrical generation leases by basing royalties on a percentage of gross proceeds from the sale of electricity. This would reduce industry’s administrative costs to comply.

The law mandates that 25 percent of the royalties from geothermal production be paid to the counties where the production occurs, increasing those local governments’ revenues initially by $4 million a year. MMS began making direct payments to counties shortly after the law was signed.

The BLM currently administers about 423 geothermal leases; 55 of those are producing geothermal energy, including 34 power plants. The bureau has been expediting the application process for geothermal leases, issuing almost 300 leases since 2001, compared to 20 leases from 1996-2001.

In addition, BLM is in the final stages of completing a new geothermal lease form for the Energy and Policy Act Leases and modifying the LR2000 land record data base to accommodate changes in geothermal regulations (new lease case types and action codes).

For more information, contact Kermit Witherbee, BLM National Geothermal Program Lead, Tel: (202) 452-0385, Kermit_Witherbee@blm.gov.

This is certainly good news for the localities around geothermal lease sites. Perhaps we’ll see more local support for projects as a result.

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