McNerney Geothermal Energy Bill Passes House Subcommittee

Press Release

MCNERNEY GEOTHERMAL ENERGY BILL PASSES HOUSE SUBCOMMITTEE

Today, a bill authored by Congressman Jerry McNerney (CA-11) to create research and development funding for cutting edge, 21st century geothermal energy, passed the Energy and Environment Subcommittee of the House Committee on Science and Technology.

"Geothermal energy is clean, reliable, always available, and 100 percent domestic," said Rep. McNerney. "Enhanced geothermal should be an important component of the efforts to move our nation towards energy independence."

Rep. McNerney continued, "Enhanced geothermal systems offer significant promise as a way to answer many of our nation's pressing energy needs, while addressing global climate change and helping create a new energy technology economy."

The bill, H.R. 2304, the Advanced Geothermal Research and Development Act of 2007, expands existing geothermal energy programs at the Department of Energy and authorizes $75 million a year for fiscal years 2008 to 2012 to fund research, development, demonstration, and commercial application of new geothermal technologies.

Unlike renewable resources that depend on daylight or wind, geothermal can provide "baseload" power, which means that the source is uninterrupted and constant, running day and night, 365 days a year.

A recent report by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology estimates that new Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) may provide more than 100 Gigawatts of affordable energy over the next 50 years in the U.S. alone, which could power as many as 25 million homes.

Enhanced Geothermal Systems, in which man made geothermal reservoirs are created where they do not exist naturally, is different from more conventional geothermal energy, in use today.

"Enhanced geothermal offers enormous potential. This bill allows us to tap into geothermal power to expand renewable options," Rep. McNerney said.

The Advanced Geothermal Research and Development Act of 2007 passed the Energy and Environment Subcommittee on a voice vote. It will now move to consideration by the full House Science and Technology Committee, which will likely take place in June.

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