Google pushes for enhanced geothermal

Google.org, the philanthropic arm of Mountain View, Calif.-based Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) today announced more than $10 million in investments in enhanced geothermal systems, and put out the call for a big increase in federal funding for geothermal in the U.S.

The investments are the latest rounds of funding under Google.org's Renewable Energy Cheaper than Coal initiative, launched last year (see Google creates renewable R&D group). The cash for enhanced geothermal systems, or EGS, will go to Sausalito, Calif.-based AltaRock Energy, Redwood City, Calif.'s Potter Drilling, and the Southern Methodist University Geothermal Lab in Texas.

But Google.org is going beyond cash investments and plans to push for a boost in funding for federal research and development, the streamlining of the siting, leasing and permitting process, the extension of tax credits, and the formation of a national renewable portfolio standard.

"This is a technology, given its potential, that deserves a lot more federal support," Dan Reicher, director of Climate and Energy Initiatives for Google.org, told the Cleantech Group.

Enhanced geothermal doesn't need the naturally occurring pockets of steam and hot water used in traditional geothermal. Instead, it replicates those conditions by fracturing hot rock and injecting water into the system, using the resulting steam to turn a conventional turbine.

In a policy paper released today, Google.org said federal funding for geothermal should be increased to $50 million in 2009, up from the current $20 million for this year. And Google.org wants to see that funding continue to rise, ramping up to over $100 million annually in the next few years.

Reicher said they've already begun discussions with lawmakers. "Now that we've made this announcement this is definitely going to be on our legislative agenda."

"We're particularly excited and optimistic that with a new president and a new congress the climate for support for this kind of opportunity will be much stronger."

Google.org most recently put cash into plug-in vehicle technology under its RechargeIT initiative, putting a total of $2.75 million into Austin, Texas, battery developer ActaCell and Carlsbad, Calif.-based electric car maker Aptera Motors (see Google plugs cash into plug-ins).

Under its Renewable Energy Cheaper than Coal program, or RE<C, Google.org has already put $10 million into Pasadena, Calif.-based eSolar and $10 million into Oakland, Calif.'s BrightSource Energy, both developing solar thermal technologies. Makani Power, an Alameda, Calif.-based high-altitude wind power company, also received a $10 million investment from Google.org.

Today, Google.org said it's putting $6.25 million into AltaRock Energy. It's part of a $26.25 million second round of financing for AltaRock that will fund the development and demonstration of technology designed to lower the cost of enhanced geothermal. AltaRock's first-round investors, Khosla Ventures and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, led the round, joined by Google.org, Advanced Technology Ventures and Vulcan Capital.

Potter Drilling will be getting a $4 million Series A round from Google.org, with the cash to be used to develop deep hard rock drilling, needed for the large-scale deployment of enhanced geothermal.

"The advantage of EGS is that you essentially only target heat, rather than other specific geologic conditions," said Charles Baron, a researcher on Google.org's Climate and Energy team. "Everywhere on Earth the deeper you go the hotter it gets. So there is heat everywhere."

In order to help figure out where the best places are to go for enhanced geothermal, outside of the traditional hot spots in the western U.S., Google.org is funding a $489,521 grant for the Southern Methodist University Geothermal Lab. The lab will work on improving the understanding of the size and distribution of geothermal energy resources and update geothermal mapping of North America.

"Initially EGS will be located in areas which have the most geothermally rich resource, so the highest temperature closest to the surface," said Baron. "But as the technology improves and as the ability to produce power improves from lower temperatures, then its reach is truly almost anywhere."

There are already demonstration projects connected to the grid in France and Germany, and Google.org said there are over 30 companies exploring or developing enhanced geothermal projects in Australia.

In the U.S., the Department of Energy is working with  Reno, Nev.-based Ormat Technologies (NYSE: ORA) and Richmond, Calif.'s GeothermEx on a site in Desert Peak, Nev. The Desert Peak project will use enhanced geothermal technology to expand an existing 11 megawatt traditional geothermal system to 50 MW.

According to a recent report from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on enhanced geothermal, just 2 percent of the heat below the continental U.S. between 3 and 10 kilometers — depths within the range of current drilling technology — would be enough to supply more than 2,500 times the country's total annual energy use.

Google.org plans to continue to put cash into solar thermal, wind and enhanced geothermal, and is looking at enabling technologies like transmission distribution and storage.

"We're also looking, as we said when we launched the initiative, at project investments," said Reicher. "Not just putting money into technology companies, but potentially backing projects that would help move a critical technology through what we call the Valley of Death to commercial scale."

When Google.org started the initiative last year it said it would be making tens of millions of dollars of investments in technology companies in 2008, and hundreds of millions of dollars of investments in projects over time.

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