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Raser Technologies' hot idea
By Paul
Davidson, USA Today | December 16, 2008
Geothermal
power, which generates electricity by
tapping a virtually limitless reserve of the
Earth's natural heat, is perhaps the most
promising renewable energy. But the richest
and most accessible resources are dwindling,
and it typically takes five to 10 years to
build a plant.
Start-up Raser Technologies aims to solve
both problems.
Its modular design makes building a
geothermal plant as simple and quick as
putting up a house. And it can use cooler,
more widely available water, which increases
the number of potential sites.
The company recently completed a 10-megawatt
geothermal plant — enough to power about
9,000 homes — in six months. By year's end,
it plans to start selling electricity from
the Thermo, Utah, facility to the city of
Anaheim, Calif.
Raser and its supplier, UTC Power, want to
build another seven generators in the
western United States by the end of 2009. It
says they can churn out a jaw-dropping eight
to 10 plants a year for at least the next
decade.
"I call it Lego … building-block style,"
says Raser CEO Brent Cook.
Geothermal makes up 3% of the nation's
renewable energy, according to the
Geothermal Energy Association. Geothermal,
unlike wind and solar, makes power around
the clock.
Developers typically drill for water that's
at least 350 degrees Fahrenheit; most is in
the West. As it's pumped from the ground,
the hot water turns to steam, which cranks a
turbine.
A relatively new binary process uses cooler
water — 250 to 300 degrees — to heat a
refrigerant that vaporizes at lower
temperatures. UTC Power says it can tap
water as tepid as 165 degrees. "There are a
lot more low- and moderate-temperature
resources than higher-temperature
resources," says Joseph Moore of the Energy
& Geoscience Institute at the University of
Utah.
Raser and UTC executives realized they could
streamline the process by simply using air
conditioners. For the Utah plant, UTC
combined off-the-shelf air conditioners from
its Carrier division, the nation's top air
conditioning supplier, with generators and
turbines to mass produce 50 units. In the
meantime, Raser drilled wells, laid the
foundation and installed wiring at the Utah
site.
Then UTC delivered 50 systems in just 10
days.
"I've seen projects studied to death," Cook
says. "This gave us the business courage to
say, 'Let's go ahead and do this project.' " |
