Evaluating Geothermal Energy Potentials in the US Western Region with GIS

Abstract

In an era saddled by mounting energy dependency and insecurity, some are not only turning to renewable geothermal energy to ensure access, but it is growing in usage in the Western region of the United States of America. Notwithstanding the United States role as a major producer of geothermal resources globally, geothermal energy has over the last several years found ample use in various spheres of daily endeavors within communities. The surging demand is much so that, it now contributes quite significantly in the generation of electricity to power households and farming activities and to sustain domestic supplies essential to segments of the economy for communities from California to Nevada. With much of the production levels, installations and plant capacities of geothermal power fully entrenched in the western region of the country considering the geologic and physical attributes, California stands out as the largest producer of geothermal power compared to its neighbors in the western region. For that, the demand for geothermal resource has been recurrent in quite a few counties over the years on the California side of the US Western region. In the face of widespread demands in the region, geothermal energy infrastructure in the form of new plants has gradually penetrated different states under varying level of production and installed capacities to boost energy security and sustain development of the areas. Even at that, very little has been done in the literature to undertake a regional assessment of the potentials of geothermal energy using a mix scale approach of spatial analysis anchored in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Accordingly, this study will fill that void in research by utilizing mix scale tools of GIS and descriptive states in analyzing the geothermal energy potentials of states in the Western region of the United States. Emphasizing the issues, trends, impacts, production, factors and future efforts through recommendations, the results point to growing usage and changes in a whole set of energy indicators ranging from production and demands, installed capacity to others over time in the region with much of that in California coupled with an uptick in geothermal portfolio. Additionally, the GIS mapping of the trends highlights gradual dispersion of changing patterns in consumption and presence of infrastructural facilities visibly concentrated in a cluster of areas located in the western region. With all these attributed to a host of socio-economic and physical factors, the paper proposed suggestions ranging from the design of a regional geothermal energy information system, the education of the public and more infrastructural development in the sector.