Community Supported Geothermal Projects

Abstract

Even in today’s increasingly supportive social environment towards renewable energy, when renewable energy sources are discussed, geothermal energy is often not included. Lack of education and/or communication with the general public is often identified as a source for this low visibility. So, how do we engage the public in promoting geothermal? The authors have been working with two distinct communities in Colorado (town of Rico) and New Mexico (the Navajo Nation) to help solve this problem. Although the two communities are very different, one common feature exists: in each case, the local community is working with Colorado School of Mines side by side to understand the nature of geothermal as a resource and to build a business plan. This paper describes two geothermal projects that are strongly supported by the community. Colorado School of Mines shares the resistivity results with the communities to gain support through a more realistic understanding of the available resource in the community. Geothermal exploration unfolds the mystery of hidden underground resources, and Colorado School of Mines has been sharing the joy of discovery with the communities.