アメリカ内務省が、その広大な管理地を地熱エネルギーの利用に供することを発表しました。アメリカのエネルギー政策で地熱が果たす役割への期待と可能性の認識を国として積極的に認め、具体的な計画に着手するということです。発表されたリリースによれば、アメリカは2005年の段階でほぼ16000GWhの設備容量に達し、再生可能エネルギーの中心となってきた水力にせまる貢献をなす存在まですでに育ちつつあります。そして、この傾向をさらに推し進めるだけの十分なエネルギー賦存量と技術的な可能性を認めていく方針を明らかにしています。
プレスリリース / U.S. Department of the Interior,Oct. 22, 2008
・Kempthorne Launches Initiative to Spur Geothermal Energy and Power Generation on Federal Lands
" Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne today announced a plan to make more than 190 million acres of Federal land in 12 western states available for development of geothermal energy resources, an initiative that could increase electric generation capacity from geothermal resources ten times over.
“Geothermal energy will play a key role in powering America’s energy future,” Kempthorne said, “and 90 percent of our nation’s geothermal resources are found on Federal lands. Facilitating their leasing and development under environmentally sound regulations is crucial to supplying the secure, clean energy American homes and businesses need.”
Under the development scenario outlined in the plan ? known as the Final Geothermal Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement ? the initiative could produce 5,540 megawatts of new electric generation capacity from geothermal resources by 2015. That’s enough to meet the power needs of 5.5 million homes. The plan also estimates an additional 6,600 megawatts by 2025 for a total of 12,100 megawatts ? enough to power more than 12 million homes.
When put into action by a Record of Decision, the plan would identify about 118 million acres of Bureau of Land Management-managed public lands and 79 million acres of National Forest System lands for future geothermal leasing. It would provide a list of appropriate stipulations to be applied to leases and amend 122 Bureau of Land Management land use plans to allow for geothermal development.
Kempthorne noted the strong interest states, local communities, industry and environmental groups took in the development of this plan. “This process has benefited greatly from the involvement of both governmental and non-governmental stakeholders, and from the clear direction Congress gave in the 2005 Energy Policy Act,” the Secretary said. “It’s really a model for working together to make decisions about our energy future.”
The United States is already the world leader in generating electricity using geothermal energy, with about 16,000 gigawatt-hours of electricity generated in 2005. Almost half of this production and 90 percent of U.S. geothermal resources occur on Federal lands. (One megawatt of geothermal energy provides enough power to meet all the electricity needs of more than 1,000 homes. A gigawatt, which is 1000 megawatts, can power more than 1 million homes.)
Geothermal leasing revenues and royalties are shared with the States and counties where the leases are located, with 50 percent going to the State; 25 percent to the county and the remaining 25 percent to the Geothermal Royalty Fund of the Bureau of Land Management for investing in further geothermal planning and development.
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関連情報
・Substantial Power Generation from Domestic Geothermal Resources-----USGS Releas : News,9/29/2008
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The results of this assessment indicate that full development of the conventional, identified systems alone could expand geothermal power production by approximately 6,500 MWe, or about 260% of the currently installed geothermal total of more than 2500 MWe. The resource estimate for unconventional EGS is more than an order of magnitude larger than the combined estimates for both identified and undiscovered conventional geothermal resources and, if successfully developed, could provide an installed geothermal electric power generation capacity equivalent to about half of the currently installed electric power generating capacity in the United States.
"The results of this assessment point to a greater potential for geothermal power production than previous assessments," said Dirk Kempthorne, U.S. Secretary of the Interior. "Geothermal energy is not only a renewable resource, but could significantly contribute to our domestic energy resource base."
Results of this USGS assessment indicate that the power generation potential from identified geothermal systems range from 3,675 MWe (95% probability) to 16,457 MWe (5% probability); the power generation potential from undiscovered geothermal systems range from 7,917 MWe (95% probability) to 73,286 MWe (5% probability); and the power generation potential from Enhanced Geothermal Systems range from 345,100 MWe (95% probability) to 727,900 MWe (5% probability).
Geothermal energy is an extremely important but underutilized domestic, renewable energy resource. The nearly 15,000 Gigawatt-hours of geothermal power generated in 2005 constituted 25% of domestic nonhydroelectric renewable electric power generation (a little over 4,055,400 total Gigawatt-hours of electricity were produced in the United States in 2005).
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・USGS : / Assessment of Moderate- and High-Temperature Geothermal Resources of the United States : Fact Sheet 2008-3082 PDF (7.6 MB)
-----image : Fact Sheet 2008-3082カバー
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