Geothermal Energy from the Cascades

摘要

The young volcanic areas of the Cascade Mountains offer the possibility of abundant clean electrical power. Geologic studies to date indicate that the geothermal energy equivalent of 400 Trojan-size nuclear plants probably exists in the Cascades— outside of Wilderness Areas and National Parks. (This estimate was by the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries in 1983 in Special Paper 15.) Many other similar estimates of a vast power reserve were made in the 1970s and 1980s, based on thermal gradient drilling, geophysical and geological explorations. Yet for the past 10 years almost nothing has been done to follow up this promising work with the deep drilling needed to prove this resource.