Geothermal Reservoir Engineering in the EPRL Geothermal Program

Abstract

Early optimism about the rate at which geothermal energy might be developed in the United States appears to have diminished over the past two years, and the formula for accelerating the development of geothermal energy has proven elusive both for industry and the federal government. Certainly, the geothermal resource base has not changed, and several of the liquid-dominated fields have been better defined by continuing drilling programs. The technical problems have not changed significantly and progress has been made in the art of handling geothermal brines, notably the work with the hypersaline brines of the Salton Sea deposit. More applied research is underway and beginning to yield results. Why, then, has optimism diminished?