Geothermal power is a real, but untapped opportunity in Canada.
In a 2008 story about Canada being a laggard when it comes geothermal power production, I wrote
that Canada is the only nation along the Pacific Ring of Fire to not
have a commercial geothermal power plant up and running. “We’re one of
the few countries with significant geothermal potential that’s not doing
anything about it,” was a quote I used from Gary Thompson, an industry
executive based in Canada who has had no choice but to pursue geothermal
opportunities in other countries.
The “not doing anything about
it” part pretty much remains true today, as there are still no
commercial plants in operation. Not that some folks haven’t been trying,
particularly the Canadian Geothermal Energy Association (CanGEA),
whose members represent about 20 per cent of installed geothermal power
capacity globally. Problem is, that capacity isn’t in Canada, despite
estimates that 5,000 megawatts — initially — could be commercially
developed here.
For a few years now, CanGEA has been trying to
build an industry roadmap and implementation plan that would give
geothermal power development in Canada a much-needed kickstart. This
“roadmap” requires market reports, maps that identify the resource
opportunity, and databases that track those opportunities over time. It
would support the argument for public policy that supports early efforts
to establish a geothermal power market in Canada — the same policies
that have supported Canada’s oil, gas and mining industries over the
decades. Unfortunately the roadmap is incomplete, and that’s because the
industry has been unable to convince the federal and provincial
governments (in geopower hotspot zones, namely Alberta, NWT and B.C.) to
financially support this early, crucial research.
This has left
the opportunity in limbo, so much so that CanGEA — in what appears to be
a first for crowdsourcing — is getting ready to launch a campaign on
Indiegogo.com to help bridge the financial gap. At this point, it looks
to raise $300,000 as part of a two-month campaign. “The topic of turning
to public funds to shore up what the government has given or won’t give
is a daily topic at CanGEA and is a circular argument,” says Alison
Thompson, founder and chair of CanGEA and a former project
manager/engineer at oil companies Suncor and Nexen. “The government
won’t give more until industry gives more matching dollars. But the
industry can’t start until the government provides geothermal energy
with the same platform as it has for wind, solar, biomass, run of river,
not to mention what it has historically given and still gives to the
carbon-based fuel industry and nuclear industry.”
So the
association is turning to the crowd. And what will the funds it hopes to
raise go toward? CanGEA wants to complete its industry roadmap, and
also hire a policy team that can lobby the federal government to put
geothermal energy on a level playing field with other renewables and
conventional fossil and nuclear energy sources.
It’s an
interesting experiment, one that will shine a light on the industry and
the Canadian government’s apparent disinterest in the geothermal power
opportunity. Will it work? The association may very well not meet its
fundraising goal. But even if it doesn’t, it will have made a strong
point and raised attention to this opportunity to a level more deserved.
Stay tuned. I’ll let you know if and when the campaign formally launches.
Coincidentally, I wrote this blog post at the same time as I received this e-mail comment from Toby Heaps, CEO and publisher of Corporate Knights,
who is currently on vacation in Iceland. “The geothermal swimming pool
here is amazing,” he wrote, referring to the hot water “lagoons” that
have become tourist attractions at some of the country’s geothermal
plants. I recently had a similar tourist experience in Costa Rica, which
also has some geothermal power capacity.
The same tourism opportunity exists in Canada, if we get geothermal power into this country’s energy mix.
http://theenergycollective.com/tyhamilton/272306/canada-s-geothermal-power-industry-turns-crowd-absence-government-funding-research
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