If Iceland can dump use of most fossil fuels...can't the US?

This Cornell link is exceedingly positive. I have been to Iceland, and yes they are sitting on top of a huge geothermal resource, but at least they responded and utilized it.

We in the US are sitting on top of or near huge geothermal, solar and wind resources, but in my opinion, our government is not adequately supporting significant enough utilization of these resources.

Am I a Cornell grad? Take a guess, and whatever, I am certainly pleased with the Iceland presentation by their President.

US Gov Takes Concrete Steps to Expand Renewable Energy

Secretary Sally Jewell outlines on This Week at Interior an upcoming offering of offshore leases to develop wind energy which could supply electricity to 1 million homes. She also highlights some western US developments of solar and geothermal renewable energy which can supply energy needs of 200,000 homes. The video is certainly worth the 3+ minutes it takes. (Note: the renewable energy segment comes after a 1 min segment on recreational fishing, and before a segment about healthy foods to be served in National Parks).

For more details on the offshore wind farm lease, see Renewable Energy News.

What can WE do to fight global warming?

The WE in the title is for us, on a personal level. So WE can:
- Install a solar photovoltaic (PV) system on our roof.
- Install a solar water heater on our roof.
- Install a geothermal heat pump.
Now these are all choices that benefit us directly, and the rest of the world indirectly by limiting our generation of greenhouse gases.

But how about donating to organizations that use solar PV or equivalent to provide electricity to remote off-grid people who desperately need electricity, if only for illumination for kids to study at night. I truly believe that smarter kids will most definitely benefit our World.

So that is where I plan to target my dollar support efforts. I will let you know what avenues I find that seem to be most reliable to achieve that goal. And please let me know if you are aware of other good avenues.

Geothermal Energy Plans in Kenya

Geothermal energy in this context is not "geothermal heat pumps", but rather it is actually extracting high levels of heat energy from the Earth, typically at about 500 deg C, and using that heat energy to produce electricity from steam turbines coupled to electric generators, as already very well developed in coal and gas powered electricity generation.

From the article in Renewable Energy News, ".....the geothermal energy potential in Kenya is estimated be upwards of 10,000 MW." That is the equivalent 20 average coal fired power plants, which for a country the size of Kenya, is very significant. Their current commitments to geothermal are very encouraging (as spelled out in the linked article, which is long and very detailed).

Geothermal Energy Potential Rises

According to the linked article from EnergyDigital, geothermal energy potential in the U.S. exceeds that of coal by 10 fold. A new mapping study funded by Google shows many locations that previously had not been identified. From the article:

“This assessment of geothermal potential will only improve with time,” said Dr. David Blackwell, lead researcher of the project, according to SMU's news archive yesterday. “Our study assumes that we tap only a small fraction of the available stored heat in the Earth’s crust, and our capabilities to capture that heat are expected to grow substantially as we improve upon the energy conversion and exploitation factors through technological advances and improved techniques.”