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To: Snowshoe who wrote (96401)	2/4/2008 11:21:28 AM
From: Snowshoe	Respond to of 206334

Australia is said to have some of the best geothermal power potential on earth. I'm keeping an eye on Geodynamics Ltd, a small Australian company in the forefront of the development efforts. They have a brand new Texas-built "Lightning 1000" drilling rig from Le Torneau Technologies, so it looks like the drill bit will still be an "important tool" after all the oil is used up... See: geodynamics.com.au Disclaimer: I don't own this stock, and I have no opinion on it as an investment.

To: Snowshoe who wrote (96401)	2/4/2008 12:10:35 PM
From: Snowshoe	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 206334

Alcoa is exploring geothermal power for future aluminum plants. Perhaps a lot of industrial activity will move to locations with exploitable geothermal power, as the fossil fuel era wanes? ... Alcoa, Iceland group to develop geothermal power reuters.com Tue Sep 11, 2007 2:38pm EDT NEW YORK, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Alcoa Inc (AA.N: Quote, Profile, Research), the world's top aluminum producer, said Tuesday it signed an agreement with a consortium of three Icelandic power companies to develop high-temperature geothermal energy that it would eventually use to power its aluminum smelter in Iceland and elsewhere. The group, called Iceland Deep Drilling Project (IDDP) includes Icelandic power companies Hitaveita Sudurnesja Ltd, Landsvirkjun, and Orkuveita Reykjavikur, along with the National Energy Authority Orkustofnun and Alcoa. Alcoa said it made a significant contribution to the consortium, without providing details. IDDP will collaborate on a deep drilling project to explore the feasibility of producing energy and chemicals from geothermal systems known as "supercritical conditions". Supercritical or high-temperature geothermal systems could potentially produce up to 10 times more electricity than the geothermal wells working today. Geothermal energy is derived from underground water heated naturally by contact or close proximity to molten rock, far beneath the earth's surface. In signing the agreement, Bernt Reitan, Alcoa executive vice president, said, developing geothermal energy would tap into almost limitless, clean, natural energy, substantially reducing greenhouse emissions. Producing energy from supercritical fluids would require drilling to depths of 4 to 5 km (13,000-16,000 ft), but would generate 40 to 50 megawatts of electricity compared with wells currently operating about 2 km deep, that produce about 5 megawatts of electricity. The first wells will be drilled in 2008 at Krafla in northeast Iceland and tested the following year. Two new wells, 4 km deep, will be drilled at Hengill and Reykjanes geothermal fields during 2009 to 2010. Pilot plant testing is expected to be completed in 2015. Each of the power companies, which financed a study completed in 2003, committed to drill one deep well at their own costs in a geothermal field they operate. One of the wells selected for further deepening is a joint IDDP-project funded by the consortium, with additional funds from the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program, an international foundation based in Germany that supports drilling for scientific research, and from the U.S. National Science Foundation.