MORE NEWS, 7-15 (DRILLING DEEP COULD BE DANGEROUS; UTAH TO BUILD WIND IN IDAHO; CARBON FREE GIRL)

DRILLING DEEP COULD BE DANGEROUS
Quake Fears Stall Energy Extraction Project
James Glanz, July 13, 2009 (NY Times)

"…[The Energy and Interior Departments] are stopping a contentious California project from fracturing bedrock miles underground and extracting its geothermal energy until a scientific review determines whether the project could produce dangerous earthquakes…

"The project by AltaRock Energy…had won a grant of $6.25 million from the Energy Department, and officials at the Interior Department had indicated that it was likely to issue permits allowing the company to fracture bedrock on federal land in one of the most seismically active areas of the world, Northern California."

click to enlarge

"But…federal officials said that AltaRock had not disclosed that a similar project in Basel, Switzerland, was shut down when it generated earthquakes that shook the city in 2006 and 2007. AltaRock officials denied the accusation, saying they had been forthcoming…[T]he federal agencies said the new study would focus specifically on the lessons that the experience in Basel held for the AltaRock project…

"…[A] spokeswoman for the Bureau of Land Management at the Interior Department, said no permits for fracturing the rock at the drilling site would be issued until the Energy Department completed the study…A senior official at AltaRock, James T. Turner, said the company had provided additional information…[Companies including Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and an arm of Google have invested some $30 million in AltaRock.]"

The deeper you drill, the hotter it gets. (click to enlarge)

"Jeff Gospe, the president of a community organization in Anderson Springs, Calif., a small town two miles from the AltaRock project, said the town would welcome the federal intervention…The area…is already shaken by swarms of mostly small earthquakes set off by an extensive geothermal operation that drills into relatively shallow steam beds and extracts their heat to produce electricity.

"AltaRock plans to drill much deeper and for the first time fracture the hot underlying bedrock, then circulate water through the cracks and create more steam. The company maintains that the process will be safe and that its safeguards are more comprehensive than those that were in place for the Basel project…[F]ederal officials were [apparently] not satisfied with those assurances."


UTAH TO BUILD WIND IN IDAHO
Utah County cities considering wind energy
July 14, 2009 (AP via San Jose Mercury News)

"The Utah Association of Municipal Power Systems [UAMPS] says it plans to build a wind farm in Idaho.

"…[A]n announcement on final plans for the farm will be made within 90 days…[T]he farm will generate between 40 and 60 megawatts of power…[It] is part of a larger push from UAMPS to use more renewable energy."

Idaho's best wind is in the south, nearer Utah. (click to enlarge)

"The group has also launched an energy conservation campaign and is considering building a natural-gas-powered generator.

"The association provides power to several cities and organizations in Utah, Idaho, Wyoming and California."


CARBON FREE GIRL
Best Green Speed Demon
July 2009 (Reader’s Digest)

"Life is short. Race hard. Live green. Leilani Münter's motto sets her apart from the race-car pack, as does her champion status and distinction as one of her sport's few women. 'You can care about the earth and love fast cars too,' she says.

"Münter, 33, who's both a stock-car and open-wheel driver, has made it her mission to "green" big-time auto racing—which, at 100 million strong, may have the most enthusiastic fan base on the planet. Her goals: renewable biofuels and recycled tires for the cars and recycling programs at the tracks. For doubters, she has a message: 'Never underestimate a vegetarian hippie chick with a race car.'"

Life is short. Race hard. Live green.

"Not at 200 mph, certainly…She began her racing career in 2001 and has racked up 28 top-ten finishes…Before every contest, she buys an acre of rain forest ($100 from the World Land Trust) to compensate for the 22 gallons of fuel she uses per race. She has also climbed a 252-foot windmill in Abilene, Texas, to push for alternative energies…

"If she wins her points on biofuels and recycling, she says, she'll pursue another dream: to speed around the track in an electric car, currently not allowed…Crazy? 'The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world,' she says, 'are the ones who end up doing it.'"