New Rules Around Geothermal Energy
The US Department of Energy is enforcing restrictions on geothermal energy drilling in wake of recent earthquake concerns. The new restrictions would be placed on the hundreds of geothermal projects arising throughout America that received funding the DOE last year.
All this stems from a geothermal drilling by AltaRock just north of San Francisco in which earthquake risks were not fully disclosed to the residents. Though reported that any earthquake would have been minor due to the drilling, it’s still not worth the risk. The department “is being ultra-careful about any induced seismicity”, those that are caused by humans.
The actual restrictions include:
- Ground-motion sensors
- Approved shut-down plan in case of earthquake
- Report expectation of earthquake.
Let’s hope that these restrictions can weed out any companies who care only about making a quick buck and not about the safety or future of geothermal energy.
Oh no! That is really scary and totally unfair to the residents nearby…It’s a good idea that they’re starting to enforce this now because with all the disasters going on, better safe than sorry!