Laserfiche WebLink
Planning and Zoning f®r Geothermal Energy <br />By Erica Heller, aicP <br />According to the Union of Concerned <br />QThisdiagramshowsthebasiccomponentsofa ~ SCIentI5t5, the United States has more <br />geotnermalpowerplant. geothermal power generation capacity than <br />any other couritry. <br />Recent reseaich by the U.S. Geological Survey identified geothermal resources in <br />several hundred communities in i3 western states that could be developed for <br />utility-scale power generatipn or industrial applications. These include Alaska, <br />Ariioha, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, <br />Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. The vast majority of this potential <br />has notyet been developed. Iri addition, gegthermal industry experts are quick <br />to point out that many geothehmal resources are yet to be discovered; deep re- <br />sourcesexistinlocationswherenosurracesignsindicatetheirpresence.These <br />are often identified only during unrelated drilling o[ mining activities. <br />The steam heat from the hottest geothermal resources can be used to <br />drive turbines for electricity prod uction, while cooler resources can provide <br />heat for tommerciafand ihdustrialapplications such as breweries, aqua- <br />culture farms, industrialdrying, heatingdistricts, and pools and recreation <br />facilities (known collectively as "direct use's. The passage of renewable port- <br />folio standards in several western states with known geothermal resources <br />has spurred a recent surge in geothermal resource development. Advances <br />in technology can be expected to improve our abilityto use a wider range of <br />geothermalresourcesinthefuture.Forplanners,thismeansthatmorecom- <br />munitiesneed tounderstand geothermal developmentas a land use. <br />The term "geothermal development" includes both geothermal power <br />._ plants and direct uses. Planners interested in howto regulate geothermal <br />development will benefit from understanding the character of both of these <br />land uses. All geothermal developmentshaJetwomajorcomponents:(i) <br />the area where wells are drifted ihto the ground from which the heat is <br />drawn and (z) the surface use. The surface use may be a directuse that <br />uses the heat in some direct application or a power plant that uses steam <br />to.tum turbines and produce electricity. <br />_ Geothermal power plants produce clean, non-carbon-based electricity. <br />Emissions from geothermal power plants are primarilywatervapor, with <br />trace amounts of other nontoxic gases. Geothermal energygenerates con- <br />-. tinuous"baseload"--pawer;unlikethe intermittent nature of solarorwind <br />energy. Construction of geothermal power plants, including drilling down <br />_ to the geothermal resource, creates hundreds ofjobs, while operation of <br />the-plantscreatessmaller numbers of permanent jobs. Onceageothermal <br />power plant is constructed, no fuel needs to be mined or transported to the <br />site, unlike forcoal-powered plants. <br />There are several challengesto increasinggeothermal aspart ofthe _ <br />U.S. power mix. The deep drilling required to tap into ageothermal re- <br />source isexpensive. Although geothermal energy is comparable in costto <br />other energy sources over time, the vast majority of the expense of geother- <br />mal power production isfront-loaded in exploration (finding where to tap <br />the resource) and development (drillingthe geothermalwellfiel~. Forthis <br />. reason, geothermal power plants are mostoften privately owned, profit- <br />making businesses that sell energy to public utilities. <br />$4 ~ ZONINGPRACTICE S.ao <br />AMERIGNPLWNIN6 AGSOCNnONlPe9ez <br />