Why aren't any candidates or elected officials for that matter exploring the possibilities of geothermal heat exchange given the crisis of energy we now face?
Asked by: Jeff Elder from Alexandria, VA
Asked of All U.S. Congress on Dec 22nd, 2007
Answer from: U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR)
Geothermal will play a greater role. The question is how much and how soon? We are dramatically shifting investment over the next three years into renewable energy supplies for the future and geothermal is nearly inexhaustible. And is one where there are more applications than people think and it needs to be a part of a diverse portfolio.”
Reporter: “Is funding an issue?”
Blumenauer: “Funding will be less of an issue in the next Congress, because we will shift away, there is no question in my mind, from subsidizing the mature sources of the past. We are in the process of shifting subsidy from the mature sources of that are part of our energy past and redirecting it for things that are part of our energy future that aren’t yet mature and for whom this subsidy makes all the difference in the world. I think there will be more money over the next three years and it will be targeted in ways that will magnify its impact.
Answered on Apr 14th, 2008
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Just google about geothermal and see what's it's all about
Posted by jjelder on December 22nd, 2007 at 12:03 PM
Other sources of energy are getting way too much play. Ethanol is incredibly resource intensive to produce when you think of the costs of planting corn, fertilizers (and pesticides), harvesting, transporting to fermentation center, fermentation, transport to fuel depots, etc. I think the problem might be that there are no lobbyists clamoring for other sources such as geothermal -- it is essentially free energy once you place the low-maintenance loop in the ground, so no fuel suppliers stand to benefit (i.e. ethanol). Although initially expensive, this cost could be lowered in new housing developments and wrapped into "Energy for America" green mortgages tacked onto existing mortgages. The beauty of this is that this mortgage is paid back by saving fuel every year. What's the biggest energy user in the country? It's not automobile use, it's building heating and cooling. Remarkably, geothermal addresses both of these. It has the potential to reduce our dependency on oil sources in authoritarian countries.