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GreenFire Energy June Updates: How Geothermal Energy Could Power The Future
We are excited to share the new CNBC video “How Geothermal Energy Could Power the Future
We are excited to share the new CNBC video “How Geothermal Energy Could Power the Future.” Katie Brigham, a CNBC producer, reached out to Joseph Scherer, CEO, GreenFire Energy, in early April to learn about geothermal and GreenFire Energy’s solutions. The powerful video features Joseph Scherer and other industry experts: Jamie Beard, GEO, University of Texas at Austin; Catherine Hickson, Geothermal Canada; Tim Latimer, Fervo Energy; John Redfern, Eavor Technologies; and Barbara Burger, Chevron Technology Ventures.
From the video: “Geothermal anywhere is futuristic. Geothermal in great locations is a present opportunity that can be expanded dramatically. And with retrofits, the capital expenditures are relatively low and the payback is relatively fast because you don’t need to drill a well,” says Joseph Scherer. “Geothermal at scale, leveraging the entire oil and gas industry, literally solves energy,” says Jamie Beard.
Our View of the Industry
In May the International Energy Agency released its roadmap to Net Zero by 2050. Getting to net zero requires a “massive deployment of all available clean energy technologies–such as renewables, EVs, and energy efficient building retrofits–between now and 2030 and clean energy investment to more than triple by 2030.”
The effort to propel geothermal is making headway in many countries. Japan’s government is relaxing regulations to push geothermal forward, as part of a broader renewable energy initiative. The UK is looking at the decarbonization opportunities of geothermal energy. Geothermal energy can make a significant contribution to reducing CO2 according to a study released by researchers of the University of Bayreuth in Bavaria, Germany.
While we are seeing significant interest in geothermal investment, geothermal energy, with its tremendous potential to produce clean energy, is currently underutilized. Here is a cogent article on the issues that the industry needs to address.
Hollis Chin - hollis.chin@greenfireenergy.com
Read Geothermal Energy Is Critical to Biden’s 100% Carbon-Free Grid, Why Is It Currently Underutilized?
VIDEOS: A Made-In-Canada Clean Energy Solution Wins Multiple Awards For Innovation
The Eavor-Loop is a closed system within which a proprietary working fluid is contained and circulated
Eavor’s technology consists of several Patent Pending innovations. The Eavor-Loop is a closed system within which a proprietary working fluid is contained and circulated. The working fluid is not fluid from a reservoir flowing into our wells, it is a fluid added to the closed-loop Eavor-Loop™ to create an efficient radiator, much like a vehicle radiator circulates fluid in a closed-loop to remove heat from a gasoline engine.
Eavor-Loop™ harvests heat from deep in the earth to be used for commercial heating applications (ex: greenhouses or district heating) or to be used to generate electricity using conventional heat to power engines. Eavor-Loop™ is an industrial-scale geothermal system that mitigates many of the issues with traditional geothermal systems, which rely upon using wells to produce brine from a subsurface aquifer.
The closed-loop is the key difference between Eavor-Loop™ and all traditional industrial-scale geothermal systems. Eavor-Loop™ is a buried-pipe system, which acts as a radiator or heat exchanger. It consists of connecting two vertical wells several kilometers deep with many horizontal multilateral wellbores several kilometers long. As these wellbores are sealed, a benign, environmentally friendly, working fluid is added to the closed-loop as a circulating fluid. This working fluid is contained within the system and isolated from the earth in the Eavor-Loop™. The wellbores act as pipes, not wells producing fluid from the earth.
The working fluid naturally circulates without requiring an external pump due to the thermosiphon effect of a hot fluid rising in the outlet well and a cool fluid falling in the inlet well. The working fluid contained in this closed-loop pipe system brings thermal energy to the surface where it is harvested for use in a commercial direct heat application or converted to electricity with a power generation module (heat engine).
Unlike heat pumps (or “geo-exchange”), which convert electricity to heat using very shallow wells, Eavor-Loop generates industrial-scale electricity or produces enough heat for the equivalent of 16,000 homes with a single installation.
An excellent new video by CNBC entitled 'How Geothermal Energy Could Power The Future' features Eavor CEO, John Redfern and several others in the modern geothermal industry such as Catherine Hickson of Geothermal Canada, Tim Latimer of Fervo Energy, Cindy Taff of Sage Geosystems and Joe Scherer of GreenFire Energy.
The video covers topics such as:
- What is Geothermal energy?
- Geothermal startups gain traction
- Major opportunity for oil and gas
- The future of geothermal
"Miles below the Earth’s surface, there’s enough thermal energy to power all of humanity for the foreseeable future. It’s called geothermal energy, and it’s poised to play an increasingly large role as a source of always available, renewable power. Now, there are a number of startups in the geothermal space, working to figure out how to access this heat in difficult-to-reach geographies, at a price point that makes sense. And it’s even gotten the attention of oil and gas industry giants, who are interested in greening their portfolios while sticking to their core competencies - extracting energy resources from deep within the Earth."
Research Into The Combination of Geothermal Heat, Lettuce Cultivation And Fish Farming Started
Under great interest, the project Geofood has been started. The aim of Geofood is to investigate whether geothermal heating can not only be used to heat greenhouses but also to breed fish
Under great interest, the project Geofood has been started. The aim of Geofood is to investigate whether geothermal heating can not only be used to heat greenhouses, but also to breed fish. As a symbol for opening the new aquaponic facilities, a floater with lettuce plants was placed on an aquarium with tilapia during the opening operation. Geofood is a collaboration between the Business Unit Greenhouse Horticulture of Wageningen University & Research and partners from Iceland, Slovenia, and the Netherlands.
A constant water temperature is required for fish farming all year round. Supply and demand are less constant in greenhouse horticulture: relatively much is heated in the winter and hardly ever in the summer. In addition, there are more and more cultivation companies with a geothermal source. This creates a surplus in the summer. Selling geothermal heat could be another revenue model for geothermal resources.
To this end, WUR developed an energy model for the combination of geothermal-greenhouse horticulture-aquaculture. To validate this model, an advanced fish farming system was installed at WUR in Bleiswijk in early 2019. It is a so-called recirculating aquaculture system (RAS). The largest tanks in this system contain around 10,000 liters of water containing thousands of fish. Data is collected from, among other things, the water quality, temperature, water consumption and CO2 produced by the fish.
WUR carries out this research in collaboration with partners from Iceland, Slovenia and the Netherlands. Algae production and food processing processes are also being investigated as potential applications for circular food systems that run on geothermal energy. Funding for the research comes from the European GEOTHERMICA - ERA NET Cofund Geothermal. Dutch participation in the project is supported by RVO and Top Sector Horticulture & Propagation Materials.
Source: Wageningen University & Research
Publication date: Wed, 23 Oct 2019
"Geothermal Energy Will Become Commonplace Sooner Than We Think"
Although geothermal energy, biomass power plants and other alternative energy sources have received a lot of attention since the recently concluded Climate Agreement, it has been the focus of attention within the horticultural sector for much longer
Léon Lankester, AAB:
Although geothermal energy, biomass power plants and other alternative energy sources have received a lot of attention since the recently concluded Climate Agreement, it has been the focus of attention within the horticultural sector for much longer. "Actually, for years growers have kept innovating for a license to produce and energy cost reduction," says Léon Lankester of AAB. "Geothermal energy, in particular, has been increasing greatly in the last ten years and that will only further increase in the coming years."
700 doublets
The national ambitions are considerable. In 2050, according to the Geothermal Energy Master Plan in the Netherlands, 700 doublets must provide nearly 4 million households with geothermal energy and a total of 6 million homes with heat (now there are only 375,000). In the year 2019, there are 20 doublets in the Netherlands, most of which can be found in greenhouse horticulture areas. "The use of geothermal energy started 12 years ago," says Léon. “Far more than the industry and the consumer, in the greenhouse horticulture sector they are looking for alternatives to fossil energy. That is also not surprising, since energy accounts for around a third of the total cost. This shows again that greenhouse horticulture is a creative sector. If you always think about the costs and continuity of your company, you will automatically innovate. That the sector can work together well, also helps. Cooperation is essential for the construction of heat networks."
Process guidance
AAB has been advising on sustainable energy options for more than 15 years. The company guides a grower through the entire process, from idea to realization. "Growers often already have an idea, but they come to us to work it out," Léon explains. “First we discuss why the grower wants to make a sustainability step. Then we look at who will join. Can he do it alone or can he collaborate with neighbors? It is a project that involves a lot of money, so it is important to form a team that is decisive enough to make choices together. Then the next step follows: what exactly are we going to do? Will it be geothermal energy, a biomass boiler/wood boiler or residual heat? A combination is also possible, as we see in Vierpolders. There are plans are ready to expand a geothermal heat project with a biomass installation. In response to the ‘where?’ a good location must be found. Increasingly it concerns combination solutions between the built environment and horticulture. The geothermal sources and the quality of that heat fit very well with the demand of a home when it comes to heat and tap water."
Paperwork
When the plan has been outlined, it is time for the ‘paperwork’. Applying for permits, describing environmental effects and possibly the request to change the zoning plan. Growers like to make considerations in the process, Léon notes. “One grower has more time available to sort things out than the other, so our advice differs per project. The calculation of the plan, the engineering and the construction supervision is almost always awarded to us. We make a business case with a financial plan. With this we try to make banks enthusiastic. In addition, subsidies are used to cover the unprofitable top."
Suitable in the surroundings
The plans regularly encounter resistance from the surrounding area. “Sometimes we have to deal with action groups. It is important to inform the local residents. We do this, for example, by organizing evening meetings for the neighborhood. Furthermore, we always take into account that the design fits in with the surroundings and meets the requirements from legislation and regulations, such as the PAS.”
For more information:
AAB
www.aabint.com
Publication date: 8/23/2019
© HortiDaily.com
Geothermal Energy May Make Indoor Farming Work in The Future
The farms of the future may be possible even in an urban setting with the right alternative energy.
September 27, 2018 By JULIE CAMPBELL
The farms of the future may be possible even in an urban setting with the right alternative energy.
Technology and geothermal energy advances are sending farming indoors on an increasing basis. This is the case both with urban greenhouses on a smaller scale or larger scale greenhouses.
The primary challenge with these types of greenhouse have to do with the energy they need.
Greenhouse operation is energy intensive, with high demands for electricity because of lighting, but, more importantly, heating. It is in the area of heating that geothermal energy presents a significant opportunity.
As populations rise and the demand for local food production increases, indoor farming may become much more important even in urban settings, according to a recent World Economic Forum article. That said, in order to make that financially feasible, producers need to look to affordable alternative energy options.
These urban operations rely on using every square inch to its greatest potential, as space is much more limited. Moreover, everything must operate on less water. That said, as these indoor farms – small or large in size – have the same heating and lighting requirements as a traditional farm. This requires affordable sources of energy.
Many in the industry believe geothermal energy will be among the leading solutions for indoor farming.
Among the reasons that many will look to geothermal energy is that there are already many success stories with this technology. It is not only receiving increasing attention from those in the industry, but it has also already proven itself in many examples.
For example, one of the largest flower producers in Kenya, called Oserien, uses geothermal power for heating as well as small-scale electricity production. In the Netherlands, energy is becoming increasingly expensive, so geothermal wells are being drilled for many greenhouse operators that need heat. Iceland has widespread geothermal energy heating in its greenhouses to make it possible to grow vegetables throughout the year.
Germany is home to several geothermal power projects being developed to use this resource for their greenhouse operator heating. A new effort has also been underway in Pagoda Springs, Colorado, where it is being used for vegetable production on top of broadening economic development.
Combining Geothermal Heat With Super-Fast Internet
The geothermal heat project Nature’s Heat in Kwintsheul is running at full speed to the satisfaction of the nine growers connected to the project. Not only heat pipes but also fiber optic cables were placed, so now they can even make use of high-speed internet. Nature’s Heat operator Paul van Schie: “More often than not, townships and cable companies don’t see the need to place fiber optic cables in the rural areas. We were able to hitch along with a cable that was placed from the town to a high-voltage tower close to here. Nature’s Heat is now the distribution station for fiber optic cable connections to a variety of connections.
Dennis Bos of CBizz tells us that the plans to put in fiber optic cables have been entertained for a while. “At the beginning of 2018, Paul came to us with the question if we could realize a collective fiber optic connection. In February we were ready to start when the needed number of clients was reached.” Dennis looks back on a fantastic project. “These types of projects are one in a million, they are quite unique. Worthy to be repeated, though a next project will need to be tailor-made again.”
100 percent uptime
Geothermic heating projects require a lot of stamina. Nature's Heat is an initiative of nine horticultural companies in Kwintsheul that, together, grow 51 hectares of tomatoes, bell peppers, eggplants, strelitzias, chrysanthemums, roses, and potted plants. On the 21st of March 2018, the project started. According to Paul, it was the well-executed preparations that resulted in a high-quality project. “We did have some teething problems here and there. In May the installation was turned off a few times for a software update, but we haven’t run into any big problems yet. Since May we've had a score of 100% uptime, not counting the planned pump changeover in July.”
Tailor-made
The software was developed specially for Nature’s Heat, says Paul. The company that designed and built the above-ground installations also wrote the software. And this is very convenient, because of this you have very short lines. This party does not only do the maintenance but also the management of the installation. Every day they monitor from a distance whether or not the installation is functioning accordingly.
“The above ground installation is made of stainless steel and the design of the filter units is different than usual. Also for the de-gassing, an entirely different installation is used. Where the de-gassing normally happens in big horizontal tanks, this installation accomplishes this by using cyclones. Underpressure is created, which separates the gas. You can compare it to the drain in your sink when you pull the plug.”
No free lunch
A heat roundabout in the province of South Holland is meant to connect all the heat projects so that the optimal amount can be saved on fossil energy. “It would be great if heat pipes would be placed from Rotterdam to the Westland, but there's no such thing as a free lunch. The horticulture industry has an important part to play in the supply of electricity. I think we ought to be careful to exclude CHP from the discussion involving the closing of the gas taps. If the demand to be able to flexibly switch to the use of electricity would arise, CHPs have preference over energy from power plants. Wiebes, the Dutch Minister of Economy and Climate, wants to get rid of the use of gas. But do we then need to close down sustainable CHPs and keep coal plants open? These are the questions that you as a grower need to consider.”
For more information:
Nature's Heat CBizz
info@naturesheat.nl
www.naturesheat.nl
CBizz
+31(0)88 002 0200
www.cbizz.nl
The Future of Farming is Moving Indoors – The Opportunity For Geothermal?
Technological advances have allowed farming to be more precise, with large amounts of fresh produce being now produced in urban environments with minimal space and smaller amounts of water than on a traditional farm
Alexander Richter 22 September 2018
With technological advances, farming is changing and more and more moving indoors. With either small-scale urban greenhouse operations or larger-scale greenhouses, their operation is rather energy intensive, both for electricity and light, but also for heating - a big opportunity for geothermal energy.
With an increase in population and demand for localised food production, a recent article published by the World Economic Forum describes “indoor farming as the next big thing”.
Technological advances have allowed farming to be more precise, with large amounts of fresh produce being now produced in urban environments with minimal space and smaller amounts of water than on a traditional farm. But these indoor “farms”, be it on smaller or larger scale need both light and heating to be productive.
With the energy intensiveness of indoor farming in greenhouses, it is not surprising that operators are actually looking at different, clean and cost effective sources of energy – both for light and heating. And there are plenty examples on how geothermal energy is increasingly receiving attention or is already used.
In Kenya, one of the largest flower producers Oserien is utilising geothermal energy both for heating, but also producing power with small-scale geothermal power generation. In the Netherlands, due to the increasing cost for energy, greenhouse operators are teaming up on drilling geothermal wells to tap that resource for heating. Iceland utilises geothermally heated greenhouses to produce vegetables year round.
In Germany, in conjunction with geothermal power projects, greenhouse operators are looking into the use of the resource for heating.
An article by BBC (linked below) describes efforts made in Colorado in the United States. At Pagoda Springs, geothermal energy is used not only to produce vegetables but also use the resource for wider economic development.
How far geothermal energy will be a common form of energy used in greenhouse operations will have to be seen. In what form geothermal energy can be utilised or compete with other sources depends on the location and on where resources can be found. But the examples mentioned above show that there are opportunities being seized and actually could expand beyond the countries/ regions mentioned.
Source: World Economic Forum, BBC
Are Hot Springs The Future of Farming?
A small Colorado town is using its hot springs for an unusual purpose: growing food year-round. And with geothermal energy in abundance, this could be a model used across the US.
By Daliah Singer - 10 September 2018
The tomatoes aren’t cooperating. Instead of growing up the trellis, the plants are weaving all over the garden bed and arching, menacingly, toward a young grapevine. On a hot August afternoon, Pauline Benetti and Diane Kelsey are trying to coach the fruit upward by tying its stems to the wood-and-metal trellis.
It’s high season for the juicy red spheres, but these two volunteers – both shorter than the vines they’re trying to wrangle – aren’t just struggling with these plants for the final farmers’ markets of the summer. They want to train the tomatoes to grow in the right direction inside this greenhouse all year long.
Their work is part of a five-year effort by the Geothermal Greenhouse Partnership (GGP) in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. The volunteer-run nonprofit, in coordination with the south-west Colorado town, is transforming the world's largest and deepest geothermal hot spring into something much more than just a travel destination: it’s using the renewable energy source to grow food year-round for the community.
Pagosa Springs is well-known in the western United States for its unique approach to geothermal energy, which is energy harnessed from the Earth’s heat. Geothermal food growing, though, is a new enterprise.
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In the center of the small downtown, on the banks of the San Juan River, sit three conspicuous, geodesic greenhouses, each 42ft (13m) in diameter. They stand in stark contrast to the old-timey buildings on the road above. All will house gardens, but each has a different mission.
The project’s three greenhouses use geothermal energy to help grow plants even in Colorado’s cold-weather months (Credit: Daliah Singer)
The first, the Education dome, was built in 2016. It is the only one of the trio that’s currently operational. Volunteers stop by to prune and plant every day; more than 300 students have visited the site to learn about the plants and to practice their maths or science skills; and the public is welcome from 11:00 to 14:00 on Tuesdays and Saturdays.
“Everything we do is [focused on] teaching sustainable agriculture to the next generation and growing food year-round – which is pretty special” at an altitude of 7,150 feet (2,180m), says Sally High, a former environmental educator and GGP board treasurer.
The geothermal water comes from town wells via a lease agreement with Pagosa Springs. A heat exchanger inside each greenhouse uses the geothermal liquid to heat domestic water, which is piped through the floor of the greenhouse in cold-weather months. The geothermal fluid then resumes its natural path.
Inside of the Education dome, volunteers prune and plant every day (Credit: Daliah Singer)
The closed-loop system is as close to non-consumptive as possible – meaning almost no water is consumed during the process, with most of it returning to the ground – and allows the greenhouse to maintain a consistent temperature that ranges from 58F (around 14C) on the coldest winter nights to 90F (32C) on a sweltering summer day. (A pond, fans, misting system, and windows also help regulate the temperature.) That means the squash, kale and beets can grow in any month – a major benefit in a high-elevation mountain town where the average frost-free growing season spans less than 80 days.
The method will be similar in the Community Gardens greenhouse, which is expected to open before the end of 2018. Local civic organisations and community groups, such as food banks and veteran-focused associations, will have their own garden beds in which they’ll grow food to help feed their communities.
The Innovation greenhouse, slated to open in 2019, has a different purpose. It will house an aquaponic growing environment, raising fish and plants together in a symbiotic system in which the fish waste acts as a food source for the plants while the plants filter the fish’s water, one that uses about one-tenth of the water required for conventional soil growing. It’s a controlled environment, so the dome will be closed to the public except during special demonstrations or tours.
Our geothermal resource is underused and undervalued – Sally High
“Farmers’ markets are seasonal. This takes Colorado’s agriculture [towards being] very local and year-round,” says High, who sees Pagosa’s greenhouse endeavor as both an economic and tourism driver for the town. “Our geothermal resource is underused and undervalued.”
First discovered in the 1800s, the hot springs are popular for therapeutic purposes (Credit: Getty Images)
The Ute Indians first discovered the area’s therapeutic waters in the 1800s. More than a century later, in 1982, the town, with help from the US Department of Energy (DOE), launched a geothermal heating system that uses the geothermal water to provide heat to about 60 local businesses and residences and melt snow on the sidewalks in the small downtown. (There are around 20 such systems in the country, including in Boise, Idaho, and San Bernardino, California.)
“It’s a 24/7/365 power source; it’s not intermittent, like solar or wind,” High says. “This direct-use project… it’s absolutely replicable.”
Pagosa Springs isn’t alone in growing food geothermally. But the process is still rare in the US. In its most recent look at geothermal direct-use installationsin the country, which dated to February 2017, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) counted just 29 greenhouses.
“One thing that’s unique about geothermal is, in addition to the ability to provide power, it can provide these other services to a community that allow them to be more self-sustaining,” says Katherine Young, NREL’s programme manager for geothermal energy.
Since 1982, the hot springs have been used to provide heat to buildings in downtown Pagosa Springs (Credit: Daliah Singer)
Most conversations about geothermal energy focus on Iceland, where the natural resource accounts for about 25% of the country’s total electricity production and where 90% of homes are heated geothermally. Other European countries have access to mostly intermediate- to low-temperature geothermal resources, which restricts them somewhat, as higher heats are better suited to electricity production. Even so, at least 13 countries tap into them for greenhouses, among other uses.
But the US hasn’t fully realised its geothermal potential. According to the DOE, “the US leads the world for installed geothermal capacity, with more than 3.7 gigawatts” – most of which is concentrated in the West. But a 2006 Massachusetts Institute of Technology study found that technology investment could open up access to more than 100 gigawatts in the next five decades, providing more than 10% of the country’s electricity demand. (The DOE announced a $4 million [£3.1m] investment in six deep direct-use feasibility studies last year.)
There’s a ton of heat everywhere beneath the US, and it can be harnessed – Katherine Young
“There’s a ton of heat everywhere beneath the US, and it can be harnessed everywhere,” Young says. “It can play a significant role in the US energy economy.”
Thus far, the GGP project has been primarily grant-funded – including a recent $174,500 (£135,000) infusion from the Colorado Water Plan and Colorado Water Conservation Board – and volunteer-driven. But as the final domes inch closer to completion, the team wants to hire a site manager, its first employee. Funds will come from private donations as well as by selling produce from the Innovation dome to local restaurants and at farmers’ markets. (Visitors can also buy tomatoes and lettuce from the Education dome on the two days a week it’s open; some of that produce winds up at the farmers’ markets, too.)
This past summer, vegetables grown in the Education greenhouse’s salad garden were part of the meals in the free summer food programme for kids in need. Community events at Centennial Park, where the greenhouses sit, have ranged from cooking classes to breakfasts to educational speakers.
Vegetables grown inside of this greenhouse helped feed local children this summer (Credit: Daliah Singer)
For local youth like Tucker Haines, the Education greenhouse affords more than just an opportunity to learn about eating – and growing – fresh foods. Every Monday last school year, the 13-year-old would walk from Pagosa Springs Middle School to the GGP park. His maths teacher thought hands-on learning might help the formulas and fractions finally click with the students. Tucker and his classmates measured the garden beds and plants and kept calendars which outlined when the seeds were going to germinate; they also planted and harvested kale, red cabbage and cauliflower. “My regular math class I couldn’t quite understand,” Tucker says. Suddenly, though, the numbers started to make sense. “It made math enjoyable,” says his mother Nancy Haines.
Tucker’s experience is the kind of broader community benefit High and the rest of the GGP were hoping for when they set out on this mission a decade ago. “It’s this living laboratory that we have right smack in the middle of town,” says Cindy Schultz, Pagosa’s associate planner. “It gives people a sense of what’s possible.”
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Canada: New Step In Development of Commercial Geothermal Power
Canada: New Step In Development of Commercial Geothermal Power
Climeon receives the world’s first order for a geothermal power plant in Canada from Borealis GeoPower. The order relates to a demonstration project named Sustainaville, in Valemount, British Columbia. It includes delivery of three 150 kW Climeon modules and is valued at approximately EUR 1,000,000.
The municipality of Valemount is situated near the end of a transmission line. The distributed power production from the Climeon Heat Power solution will contribute to Valemount’s economic development by providing additional energy to the area. Borealis GeoPower has conducted extensive field work and is confident that the Climeon Heat Power system can operate at optimal levels even when there are large variations in flow and temperature.
“Our impact goes deeper than the drilling. We provide energy and food security solutions with an emphasis on "please in my backyard" from the local community and Indigenous Peoples. We look forward to working with the low temperature Heat Power market leader Climeon and our myriad stakeholders on bringing the Sustainaville project to life. Thanks goes out to the British Columbia and other governments involved in this project for their continued support,” says Alison Thompson, Co-Founder and CEO of Borealis GeoPower.
”We are very excited about the possibility to work with Borealis on this project. The potential for low-temperature geothermal heat power is substantial and it can be produced almost anywhere in the world. This new order, together with orders from Iceland, USA and Germany earlier positions us as a key player in the transition to renewable energy,” says Ruben Havsed, Head of Sales Geothermal at Climeon.
Natural Resources Canada contributed CAD 1,541,000 through its Energy Innovation Program.
“Geothermal power is an exciting avenue that offers us so much to explore. By bringing this demonstration of renewable power to our country, we have the opportunity to showcase clean reliable energy generation, supporting the transition away from fossil fuels to more sustainable options. Our government is proud to support Borealis and Climeon to discover how this demonstration project may lead to further geothermal energy deployments that will help our country create a brighter future,” says The Honourable Jim Carr, Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources.
“Alberta Innovates is pleased to have played a role in supporting a geothermal company in Alberta,” says John Zhou, Vice President of Clean Energy for Alberta Innovates. “Alberta’s engineering expertise can help in developing geothermal resources in Canada and around the world”.
Drilling of the wells will start in the Spring of 2018 and the delivery of the Climeon Heat Power modules is planned for the end of 2018. Together with Borealis GeoPower, Climeon is taking an important step to demonstrate the viability of commercial geothermal heat power in Canada.
The demonstration project makes Borealis GeoPower a leader in the Canadian geothermal sphere. Longer term, the company aims to make remote communities less dependent on fossil fuels by heating and fully powering them with clean energy from geothermal resources.
Geothermal power is in service day and night throughout the year. It can provide the same regulating power as coal or diesel-fired power plants as part of the heat power category, making it the best option to offer clean power in quantities large enough to replace fossil energy sources.
Canada is the only large country in the volcanic area surrounding the Pacific Ocean, called the Ring of Fire, that still lacks geothermal power production. Canada is estimated to have similar geothermal potential as USA which has 3.5 GW of installed geothermal power production capacity. Canada’s know-how and expertise from the oil and gas industry together with the progressive geothermal sector sets a good foundation for the geothermal market to accelerate in the coming years.
For more information:
Climeon
climeon.com
Publication date: 4/5/2018
Alliance Greenhouse Uses Geothermal Heat To Produce All Year Long
Alliance Greenhouse Uses Geothermal Heat To Produce All Year Long
- TORRI BRUMBAUGH Staff Intern | torri.brumbaugh@starherald.com
- Jun 10, 2017
Russ Finch shows off his tango mandarins, a hybrid that contains no seeds.
Torri Brumbaugh/ Star Herald
ALLIANCE — Members of the Nebraska Master Gardener Program anxiously wait as Alliance’s Russ Finch cuts an orange. While the excitement for a simple orange seems strange, this orange is different. It is a 3-year-old orange that Finch grew in his own backyard.
Finch was simply a mail carrier and farmer in Alliance, until 45 years ago when he started experimenting with heating houses with geothermal heat. Fifteen years later, he began using the geothermal heat to improve greenhouses.
Geothermal heat produces heat from the ground. A singular heat source dispenses heat into a tubing system that runs under the ground of the greenhouse. The heat is constantly circulating and reused to create the perfect environment for the greenhouse. This means that in Finch’s greenhouses, he can grow any tropical or subtropical plant that he wants.
Russ Finch leads members of the Nebraska Master Gardener Program into a newly builty greenhouse.Torri Brumbaugh/ Star Herald
His personal greenhouse is filled with numerous plants, nine varieties of southern grapes, pomegranates, 13 types of citrus fruit and much more. His citrus fruits include Eureka lemons, Meyer’s lemons, Cara Cara oranges, Tango mandarins and Washington naval oranges.
At 78-feet long, Finch’s greenhouse is 24 years old and the first one he created.
Around three years ago, Finch began to sell the frames, systems and equipment for his geothermal greenhouses with his business, Greenhouse in the Snow.
Compared to his personal greenhouse, the new greenhouses are much more efficient.
The new greenhouses are at least 96 feet long. They also include shelves on one wall to grow ground vegetables and fruit. The other side of the greenhouse is often designated for trees.
“We just put everything in it to see if it’ll grow, and almost everything did,” says Finch.
Finch’s geothermal greenhouses appear to be much more efficient than the standard greenhouse.
To run his personal greenhouse, it costs Finch up to 85 cents a day. Other geothermal greenhouses, like the one at Alliance High School, cost up to 97 cents a day. A geothermal greenhouse only costs around $200 to run in the winter, compared to the $8,000 it would cost with a regular greenhouse.
In his greenhouses, Finch can also produce more product than planting outside.
A greenhouse can produce 14 tomatoes to every one tomato that average farming produces, while with other crops it is often 50-1, Finch said. Weather is a big factor in this because greenhouses have a controlled environment.
Here is a prototype of Russ Finch's newer greenhouses.
Torri Brumbaugh/ Star Herald
The profit produced by the geothermal greenhouses is a great benefit as well.
Finch said, “Each tree needs an 8-foot circle and will produce 125 pounds of fruit. If a pound is usually $3.50 at a farmers market, that makes each 8-foot circle worth $430.”
According to Finch, most young people do not want to get into agriculture because they believe it is too expensive. Little do they know, a single 3-year-old tractor with four-wheel drive is the same cost as putting up nine of Finch’s greenhouses. So for those looking to get into agriculture, Finch highly suggests going geothermal.
Member of the Nebraska Master Gardener Program get the opportunity to explore one of Russ Finch's newer greenhouses outside of Alliance, Nebraska.
Torri Brumbaugh/ Star Herald
Greenhouses are efficient cost wise, but the newer greenhouses also include a key to helping with the extinction of bees.
Finch showcased an Australian beehive called Flow Hive. The hive would replace common beehives and take away the need for smokers, a device used to calm bees. Within Flow Hive, the hexagonal cells are already formed, so the bees do not need to create them with wax.
When the honey needs to be taken from the beehive, a key is used to break the cells and drain the honey. Finch claims that the new beehives would help kill less bees and hopefully, help the bee from coming extinct.
Finch has sold about 38 greenhouses and almost all of them have been used for commercial purposes. Nine states — including Alaska, South Dakota, Wyoming and Kansas — now have Finch’s greenhouses, along with two greenhouses in Canada.
The Federal Aviation Administration has just given the go for a greenhouse to be built at the Western Nebraska Regional Airport in Scottsbluff. The greenhouse will be used by the North Platte Natural Resources department. It is estimated that the greenhouse will be put in place in late spring.
With the success of Greenhouse in the Snow, Finch is very hopeful for the possibilities. He is trying to spread his geothermal heat across the globe to countries like Australia, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Greece and South Africa.
According to Finch, all of the Midwest’s table citrus could be grown locally in greenhouses.
Lemons grow in Russ Finch's greenhouse.
Torri Brumbaugh/ Star Herald
For more information on purchasing a geothermal greenhouse, contact Finch at greenhouseinthesnow.com.
