By Margaret Munro, Postmedia News, Ottawa Citizen, September 14, 2011
Clean, renewable, constant source
A "massive" store of clean, renewable energy is sitting at Canadians' feet, according to a federal report on geothermal energy.
Download the (52 mb) report here
Tapping into hot rocks that are tantalizingly close to the surface in western and northern Canada could generate more electricity than the entire country now consumes and generate few greenhouse gas emissions, says the report by a team of 12 scientists led by Stephen Grasby at the federal Geological Survey of Canada.
"As few as 100 projects could meet Canada's energy needs," according to the team's findings, to be presented at a geohermal conference in Torono on Thursday.
The 322-page report suggests the clean, renewable source of energy could be a game-changer.
"Canada's in-place geothermal power exceeds one million times Canada's current electrical consumption," the report says.
The heat is closest to the surface in large swaths of British Columbia, Alberta, Yukon and Northwest Territories, but the report says geothermal energy opportunities exist across Canada.
It notes that geothermal has distinct advantages over not only fossil fuels and nuclear energy but also wind, solar and biofuels, as the Earth's heat is available 24 hours a day, year-round.
Grasby said geothermal is not without technological and environmental risks. But there is no question there is a vast amount of clean energy underfoot, he said, and the country is well placed to start drilling for it.
"Of anywhere in the world, Canada has the technology and knowledge to move this forward," Grasby said, pointing to expertise devised for energy exploration and mining.
Co-author Michal Moore, an expert on geothermal energy at the University of Calgary, said Canada should be testing advanced geothermal energy systems, as they promise an assured source of clean, reliable energy. Geothermal is free of the greenhouse gases generated by electricity plants powered by coal and other fossil fuels, he said, and it sidesteps the problems with nuclear power, which are making headlines again this week after an explosion at a nuclear waste treatment site in France.
"It is just silly not to take advantage of a heat source like this," said Moore.
Canada has yet to plug into geothermal electricity but there are several small projects on the drawing boards in western and northern Canada.
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