Could a big geothermal energy play be next for Google.org?
Google.org, Google’s philanthropic arm, has taken a number of stakes in solar and wind startups over the past year, most recently joining a $115 million investment in solar thermal firm BrightSource Energy. It now seems to be focusing its attention on the bustling geothermal energy sector, with Google co-founder Sergey Brin recently expressing a strong interest in Ormat, a geothermal startup headquartered in Reno, Nevada.
During an interview with the Israeli newspaper, The Marker, Brin confirmed… Continue Reading
EnLink Geoenergy raises $30M for geothermal heat pump installations
Houston, Texas-based EnLink Geoenergy Services is tapping into investors’ growing appetite for geothermal energy to ramp up its development of geothermal heat pump (GHP) installations for residential, commercial and institutional settings.
EnLink, which was founded in 1995, has developed over 75 projects in 14 states — the majority of which, 69 percent, are in schools. GHP systems, which have been in use for over half a century, have been installed in more than 750,000 buildings in… Continue Reading
Australian geothermal project could show worldwide potential
While most of the investment community’s attention stateside remains squarely focused on solar, wind and biofuels, adventurous types in Australia have been dabbling in the nascent, and promising, field of hot fractured rock (HFR) geothermal energy. The pioneer in this sector has been Geodynamics, which is nearing completion of a 50 MW demonstration plant to extract energy from a fracture network 4,200 meters below ground.
This “hot dry rock” technology is used to draw energy from… Continue Reading