Colorado thinks it might be hot
Estimated to contain some of the best geothermal resources in the U.S., Colorado is trying to expand its geothermal development and catch up with other western states like Nevada and California that have begun to take advantage of their abundant resources.
Fossil fuel industries in Colorado have potential synergies with the “mining of heat,” for geothermal electric power plants.
“Recent studies undertaken by the Colorado Geological Survey show that our state’s potential to generate clean, renewable ‘base load’ power using the earth’s heat is much greater than previously assumed,†said Paul Bony, Delta-Montrose Electric Association (DMEA)’s Manager of Marketing and Member Services.
The Colorado Geological Society and other researchers indicate that Colorado’s geothermal electric potential is the 4th greatest in the nation; however, there is not yet a single geothermal electric power plant in the state.
If one thinks about areas like Steamboat Springs in the Yampa Valley, they might be right. Now the geothermal harvest technology has come to the point that a 125F temperature delta is enough to produce energy. There are some resources that had been set aside as low quality that may now be viable for production.
