Geothermal Digest » Opinion

Opinion: Let’s get serious and pass a real clean energy law this year

admin — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 04:06:28 +0000

David Yarnold, executive director of the Environmental Defense Fund, writing for politico.com says, “Let’s do it for real this time. The secret of the success of anti-pollution laws is that they actually limit — directly or indirectly — how much pollution companies can dump into the commons. Sounds kind of obvious, but it really works. For some reason, though, we’ve never gotten around to putting limits on contributors to heat-trapping pollution like methane, nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide.”

International Opinion: A big fuss about nothing

admin — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 16:06:45 +0000

So says Páll Stefánsson writing for the Iceland Review. The topic is the further expansion of Magma Energy Corp. stake in HS Orka. “But,” he says, “suddenly some members of the Left Green Movement, people who are sitting in our Althingi parliament as part of the majority government, are screaming that foreigners should not be allowed to own a share of Iceland’s natural resources.” This comes at a time when Iceland will expand cooperation and exchanges with China for work to be done in Africa. “But, wait a moment. Can we invest and work in Africa and construct geothermal power plants there with China?”

Opinion: The power exists to save our planet

admin — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 17:38:02 +0000

Albert Nerenberg, writing for the Montreal Gazette, states, “We have the technology. It’s here. Toronto-based engineer and venture capitalist Tom Rand has come out with what I’d call the most important book of the year. Kick the Fossil Fuel Habit: 10 Clean Technologies to Save Our World is a flashy five-pound coffee table book available everywhere. Instead of photos of Renaissance art or horses, it features glossy spreads of giant solar farms, geothermal energy installations and state-of-the-art wind complexes. It’s weirdly beautiful. Not because geothermal energy installations are gorgeous. It’s thrilling to finally see so many potential solutions to the gravest and most intractable problems laid out so clearly. Rand makes the case that solar energy is making strides. He also says wind power is close, but that deep geothermal is the Holy Grail.”

Opinion: We need a declaration of independence from foreign oil

admin — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 21:50:04 +0000

Writing in the Grist, Congressman Ed Markey, D-Mass., says, “This weekend, our nation will recognize its 234th birthday — celebrating the freedom we have fought for since the first shots of the American Revolution were fired in the town of Lexington, Mass., in the heart of my congressional district.” “We need a declaration of independence from foreign oil. It’s time to encourage a new generation of minutemen and -women to deploy solar, wind, and geothermal power, stamping this renewable revolution with the words ‘made in the USA.’”

Opinion: Geothermal Elbowing its Way into the Mainstream

admin — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 22:33:54 +0000

Writing for International Business Times, Dave Forest says, “As I’ve mentioned a few times, geothermal looks to be approaching a rolling boil. Revolutions never happen over night. They build over years, with the signals going from subtle to strong. Judging from the geothermal news lately, we’re getting toward the latter.”

Opinion: New Energy Coalition calls for clean energy bill passage

admin — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 20:35:28 +0000

“We urge that the Senate move quickly to consider legislation promoting energy efficiency, renewable energy generation, and biofuels, along with associated manufacturing opportunities.” So states a letter that sent by the New Energy Coalition – which includes the Geothermal Energy Association – to all members of the Senate as a followup to President Obama’s call to action on energy. The remaining members of the coalition include: the Alliance to Save Energy, the American Wind Energy Association, the Business Council for Sustainable Energy, the Biomass Power Association, Growth Energy, the Energy Recovery Council, the National Hydropower Association, and the Solar Energy Industries Association.

Opinion: Greenpeace calls for an Energy Revolution

admin — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 21:08:48 +0000

In Washington, Greenpeace said “The threat of climate change demands nothing short of an Energy Revolution — a transformation that has already started, as renewable energy markets exhibit huge and steady growth. At the core of this revolution will be a change in the way that energy is produced, distributed and consumed. The five key principles behind this shift will be to: Implement renewable solutions, especially through decentralized energy systems; Respect the natural limits of the environment; Phase out dirty, unsustainable energy sources; Create greater equity in the use of resources; and Decouple economic growth from the consumption of fossil fuels.”

Opinion: Geothermal drilling threatens Chile’s Atacama desert

admin — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 19:24:08 +0000

Writing for earthtimes.com, Christina Horsten says the El Tatio volcano in northern Chile is a tourist magnet, standing 4,300 metres high in the Andes, on the edge of one of the world’s driest region, the Atacama desert. On the one hand, the vast, virgin nature of the desert is a trademark for the country and attracts thousands of tourists every year. On the other hand, it offers enough geothermal energy to give it more independence from natural gas imports from neighboring Argentina.

Opinion: Japan could be geothermal energy leader

admin — Mon, 31 May 2010 01:41:05 +0000

Lester Brown, president of the U.S.-based Earth Policy Institute, says Japan could become the global leader in the geothermal field if the country focused on developing the energy source. “Japan could make geothermal energy the centre of its new energy economy just as the US or China will make wind the centre of theirs. There are no leaders in the world today in this field. There is no industrial country in the world that now has a well established geothermal industry.”

Opinion: Geothermal could meet Canada’s power needs

admin — Sun, 23 May 2010 19:45:03 +0000

Tyler Hamilton writing for the thestar.com says “Canada could technically meet all its electricity needs and dramatically lower greenhouse-gas emissions if it moved aggressively to develop enhanced geothermal power projects, according to the first comprehensive assessment of the country’s deep geothermal resources. The findings aren’t surprising – I’ve been pounding on this drum for several years now. But it’s encouraging to finally see it expressed in a peer-reviewed journal. Canada, shamefully, is the only country along the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire that has yet to switch on a conventional geothermal power plant.”