Google puts $10 mln into new geothermal technology

LOS ANGELES, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Google Inc (GOOG.O: Quote, Profile, Research) is investing $10 million to produce electricity from underground heat with a breakthrough technology, as the Web search leader extends its clout to clean up the environment.

The move is part of Google's effort to pump hundreds of millions of dollars into green energy sources, starting with solar thermal, high-altitude wind power and now, geothermal energy.

Heat from below the earth's surface could one day be a massive contributor to the nation's electricity supplies because it is available around the clock, Google said.

"It's 24-7, it's potentially developable all over the country, all over the world, and for all that we really do think it could be the 'killer app' of the energy world," Dan Reicher, Google's head of climate and energy initiatives, said in an interview. "Killer app" is a term used to describe revolutionary software.

That new "app," called enhanced geothermal systems, or EGS, improves upon the century-old technology of tapping geothermal energy from geysers, hot springs or volcanoes to generate electricity. With EGS, engineers drill their own geothermal outlets and pump in water to create steam to power a turbine.

The bulk of Google's first geothermal investment, $6.25 million, will help finance EGS company AltaRock Energy Inc of Sausalito, California. Other investors in the company include some of the top Silicon Valley venture capital firms.

About $4 million of Google's money will go to Potter Drilling Inc, a Redwood City, California company which has a hard rock drilling technology.

Enhanced geothermal systems that AltaRock is developing can work in a wider range of geographies than conventional geothermal ones, Google said.

"If you drill deep enough anywhere you can get to hot rock," Reicher said.

The key to keeping the cost of a project down, therefore, is to find hot rocks that lie close to the surface. Nevada has good geothermal resources, Reicher said, as do some Eastern states including West Virginia and Pennsylvania.

To help locate good geothermal resources, Google also announced a $489,521 grant for Southern Methodist University's Geothermal Lab to update geothermal mapping of North America.

Google is part of a $26.25 million round of funding AltaRock announced on Tuesday. Other investors include Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) co-founder Paul Allen's investment firm, Vulcan Capital, and Silicon Valley venture capital firms Khosla Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Advanced Technology Ventures.

Google's previous clean technology investments include $20 million for two solar thermal companies -- eSolar Inc and BrightSource Energy Inc, and $10 million to high-altitude wind company Makani Power Inec. (Editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Steve Orlofsky, Richard Chang)

Google and Ormat discussing geothermal energy projects

18/05/2008

Ormat is one of the companies Google is talking to about alternative energy, co-founder Sergey Brin told TheMarker in an interview over the weekend.

Brin, 34, was in Israel for President Shimon Peres' presidential conference "Facing Tomorrow," and visited Google's Israeli offices as well.

Brin, who called Ormat an incredible company, said there were a lot of interesting Israeli companies that worked in renewable and alternative energy, as well as electric cars.
He refused to say if Google was on the verge of closing any deals to purchase Israeli companies, but did say the conditions were very good for Google to buy Israeli firms in the next year.

Senior Google executives met with their counterparts from Ormat at two alternative energy conferences, including a presentation on geothermal energy. Larry Page, the other co-founder of Google, even visited an Ormat geothermal plant in Desert Peak, Nevada.

Ormat is considered the world leader in geothermal energy.

The relations between the two firms started after Google announced its strategic RE

The goal of the initiative is to develop electricity from renewable energy sources that will be cheaper than electricity produced from coal.

Google's program initially will focus on advanced solar thermal power, wind power technologies, enhanced geothermal systems and other potential breakthrough technologies.

Page said, "Our goal is to produce one gigawatt of renewable energy capacity that is cheaper than coal. We are optimistic this can be done in years, not decades."

One gigawatt can power a city the size of San Francisco.

Google operates in the alternative energy field through its philanthropic arm, Google.org. Google's headquarters has solar panels that generate 1.6 megawatts.

Ormat chairman Lucien Bronicki said in response that the meetings with Google are being held on a professional basis in order to advance geothermal technology. The firms are working to advance legislation for advanced geothermal technology development budgets from the U.S. government.

In February, Ormat announced a test of what is know as Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) technology, to be done in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy.

The plan is to increase the output of one of Ormat's geothermal wells with the new technology by turning marginal wells into profitable ones.

Brin also praised Google Israel's contributions to the parent company, mentioning applications such as Google Trends and Google Suggest, among dozens of others built in Israel.

As to local sales, he refused to give numbers, but did say they were going very well, and that Internet advertising in Israel works amazingly well.

Source