INDONESIA’S PLANET-SIZED GEOTHERMAL

How Geothermal Could Cleanly Power the Planet: Indonesia's Tale; The Earth's heat offers a clean and steady source of electricity, though it doesn't come cheap.

Wendy Koch, March 3, 20015 (National Geographic)

“…[The Indonesian] archipelago nation has the world's largest known geothermal reserves, and it desperately needs clean energy. Now the fourth most populous country, it's developing so rapidly that a quarter of its people still live in homes without electricity…[It] relies on coal-fired power plants for nearly half its electricity and plans to expand that usage…[Geothermal] could help tame global warming by producing copious amounts of renewable energy. The United Nations estimates global reserves at about 200 gigawatts—double the total capacity of all U.S. nuclear power plants. Yet despite decades of effort, only 6.5 percent of that potential has been tapped…Indonesia's story explains why…

"...[Indonesia’s 17,000 islands have] dozens of active volcanoes—more than any other country…Power plants can extract steam from [deep underground reservoirs of hot water] and use it to turn turbines that generate electricity…Indonesia currently produces the third largest amount of geothermal power, after the U.S. and the Philippines. Still, it's tapping less than 5 percent of its potential 29-gigawatt capacity…[A]iming to triple geothermal output from 1.4 to 4.9 gigawatts by 2019 and to hit 10 gigawatts by 2025, [Indonesia] is trying to fast-track projects…Last year it amended a law to stop defining geothermal development as ‘mining’ and thus allow work in protected forests, where many resources are located. The revision also shifts project approval from local to federal officials…[But investors] remain wary…” click here for more

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