I just caught the tail-end of a television programme in which a man was showing how he had tapped into geothermal energy to power his house.  He said that all he had to do was drill low enough to draw up the heat and that the infrastructure would pay for itself within five years.  There was just a little power inverter on his property and some batteries and nothing much else.  It looked pretty neat so I started to look for other references to domestic geothermal power.  I have been to the New Zealand Wairakei power plant (well, that was years ago, but I know it is still chugging away and hasn’t lost any power). I am no expert on geothermal power but I was mightily impressed with the way New Zealand had harnessed in the areas around Rotorua. But I stumbled across the reference to the Nesjavellir Geothermal power station in Iceland, a vast system that powers much of the surrounding area, and I was wondering where the equivalent would be in Australia – as easily accessible.  There are plenty of hot springs all over the country and wouldn’t it be great if this abundant source were used even more?  The hot rocks below are the tappable part for clean energy.

Then I found this site:

http://www.ga.gov.au/minerals/research/national/geothermal/index.jsp

It mentions a depth of 5 kilometres to reach the necessary heat.

‘In the Geothermal for Cities sub-project, the geothermal resources beneath selected capital cities and/or major population or industrial centres across Australia will be assessed and quantified. This will be done by measuring geothermal gradients and rock thermal conductivities in existing drillholes near these centres and generating estimates of heat flow.

Current knowledge of Australia’s geothermal resource distribution is focused almost exclusively on the high temperature (>150°C) hot rock resources, which given appropriate geological conditions and technological expertise, can be used to generate electricity. To date, far less attention has been given to mapping the distribution of lower temperature (<100°C) geothermal resources, which have significant potential for direct-use applications when located near populated areas. The purpose of Geothermal for Cities is to provide information on such resources.’

But it seems little has been done since 2007 when Sir Mark Oliphant delivered a paper discussing progress and aims.

There is a map that indicates Australia is an ideal candidate for using this form of energy.  Surely, with a wise combo of wind power, solar and geothermal energy, we could be self-sufficient and also knock that coal power right out of the equation. There are vast deep-seated granite systems in Central Australia that have high temperatures at depth and these are being drilled by companies such as Geodynamics Ltd, Petratherm, Green Rock Energy and Pacific Hydro to depths of more than four kilometres. South Australia has been described as “Australia’s hot rock haven” and this emissions-free and renewable energy form could provide an estimated 6.8% of Australia’s base load power needs by 2030. According to a conservative estimate by the Centre for International Economics, Australia has enough geothermal energy to contribute electricity for 450 years.

Peter Garret even promised in his election speeches all those years back that he would fund the drilling and exploration but is there any movement?  Over a year ago, Martin Ferguson announced a $50 million allocation of funding for the project.

If you know more about any specific progress (not just talk!) moving this ahead or any of the companies who are exploring the possibilities, please let us know. We think ANY emissions-free power source is a priority and would love to see it being used.