Editorial: Tapping steam for power use

Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2000 | 9:54 a.m.

Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson has placed an emphasis on the United States tapping into alternative forms of energy that are environmentally cleaner, including solar, wind, biomass and geothermal power. For instance, Richardson announced last June that wind energy should account for 5 percent of the nation's electricity needs by the year 2020. On Monday Richardson continued down that ambitious path, announcing lofty goals for another source, geothermal energy. Richardson wants 10 percent of the electricity needs in the West to be met by geothermal energy by the year 2020. This may seem unrealistic at first glance, but 6 percent of California's electricity already comes from geothermal energy, which should make this regional goal attainable.

Richardson hopes to spark geothermal's development with $4.8 million in federal funds to be used by six Western states, including Nevada, for technical assistance to support the testing and design of new geothermal technologies. California is the leader in geothermal energy use, but Nevada's potential could be even greater. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., even goes as far to say that this state could become the "Saudi Arabia" of geothermal energy. Along with companies in Nevada, firms in California, Texas, Utah, Idaho and North Dakota also will receive federal grants to conduct more research.

Nevada is painfully aware of the need for cleaner sources of energy. For instance, even though this state doesn't have commercial nuclear reactors, Nevada has been targeted by the federal government to receive high-level nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain (ironically the same department touting use of cleaner fuels also is leading the Yucca Mountain suitability study). Whether they are alternatives to nuclear power or fossil fuels, the government has a responsibility to explore other energy sources that are reasonably priced and aren't as damaging to the environment. Richardson's advocacy of a clean energy policy is sensible and is a progressive approach that hopefully will be pursued vigorously in the future.