Wednesday, October 31, 2012

USA, Oregon:

Volcano Power Plan Gets U.S. Go-Ahead (Gizmag)

Control room for the Newberry EGS pumping station(Courtesy Gizmag)
Having successfully negotiated the challenging regulatory slopes of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Department of Energy, and a host of Oregon state agencies, the Newberry Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) demonstration project is in the process of creating a new geothermal reservoir in central Oregon. 

The core of the new reservoir is a two mile (2.7 km) deep well drilled about four miles (5.4 km) from the center of Newberry Volcano. The rock surrounding the wellbore reaches temperatures in the order of 600° F (300° C), and is nearly impermeable to water. That, however, is about to change.