As President Bush and his friends at OMB decided to put programs under the chopping block, even the most ardent Bush critic wouldn't think he would terminate a major renewable energy program. But, as we can see from his piss-poor record of achievement, Bush and his Administration are not prone to making the best choices.
So what was terminated, you ask? The Geothermal Technologies Program at the U.S. Department of Energy.
Geothermal energy is heat from the earth. It is used for power plants, direct heating for fish farms, spas (i.e. hot springs), greenhouses, and business and residential districts. For example, 300 buildings in Boise, Idaho (including the State Capitol building) are heated with geothermal resources.
As the price of natural gas has shot up, these technologies have begun to re-emerge. Throughout the Western United States, there are tons of hot water resources just below the surface. These direct heating facilities require at least 100°F, and there are hundreds of opportunities to exploit these resources (especially as the costs have become far more cost-competitive). Power plants require at least 300°F, although small binary units can use temperatures as low at 200°F in some locations.
Small-scale Geothermal electricity can be used for distributed generation and even for ethanol and bio-fuel plants (some of which are in the planning stages). Geothermal heat pumps (which even President Bush uses at his Crawford Ranch) can be used virtually anywhere to provide both heating and cooling. They don't require high temperatures and are currently 1% of the market share for heating and cooling systems. The savings they generate continue to propel the market forward.
Of course, the lack of vision, war mongering morons in the Administration fail to contemplate things like this when trying to stop gay marriage and flag burning. Even they would benefit from energy savings, to keep the military strong, and to pay for all that energy intensive wire-tapping. Of course, they fail to support these programs because of their massive ineptitude, and because the geothermal industry is too small to be a big financier of their campaigns, mostly made of the oil, natural gas, nuclear, and coal industry that don't want any competition.
For the past 45 years Geothermal energy consistently produced more power than wind and solar combined, serving as a base-load resource that produces power sustainable 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. New plants coming online in the next two years will ensure that geothermal remains on top of the renewable power sector (outside of hydroelectric power and biomass, which are generally not considered pure "clean energy" sources).
New geothermal power plants are eligible for the Production Tax Credit, which is set to expire on January 1, 2008 (although Democrats have fought tooth and nail to extend it). While the Production Tax Credit got a two-year extension in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, Nuclear Energy got twenty years, even though no new power plants have been built in almost three decades, and even though Nuclear Plants still suffer from that pesky "nuclear waste disposal" problem.
Not surprisingly, government investment in these technologies has consistently resulted in significant returns. The Geothermal Program helps create new development projects and these new projects create jobs and tax revenues. In fact, a recent $1.2 million federal investment for a demonstration project in Alaska could lead to tens of millions of dollars if the project is successful. An ethanol plant can generate over $100 million a year, and could benefit from USDOE funding to help establish the first few geothermal-powered ethanol plants.
When you eliminate programs like these, America LOSES money, rather than saves money which will just go to Halliburton who will probably spend it on beer, hookers, and heart doctors to keep Cheney from expiring.
Amazingly last week, at the final hour, Democratic Congresswoman Juanita Millender-McDonald somehow saved the program from termination, and hopefully the Senate will reinstate the money the program needs to continue its excellent work. Harry Reid is one of the biggest proponents of geothermal energy since Nevada is full of geothermal resources. However, since he is a Democrat, the Bush Administration assumes he is always wrong.
While it is wonderful that a Democratic Congresswoman got the program back into existence, the American people need to know just how stupid their leaders are to reject alternative energy when it is so desperately needed. The geothermal industry is exploding; new direct heating systems are going into operation (or being expanded) and power generation is expected to grow by 50% in the next 5 years. The energy is clean, sustainable, and domestic. We must continue this growth, or else we will continue to suffer from high-energy prices, warming temperatures, and dependence on energy imports. This is certainly something to use in 2006 against the Republicans. I hope you all will keep it in mind.