Bill Promotes Geothermal Development in Oil Fields (Great Falls Tribune)
U.S. Sen. Jon Tester wants to encourage developers to use the hot water they bring up from the ground in the process of producing oil and gas to generate electricity and heat buildings. The Montana Democrat on Tuesday introduced the Geothermal Energy Opportunity Act.
It would allow oil and gas developers on public land to co-produce geothermal energy without going through an additional competitive lease process, said Marnee Banks, a Tester spokeswoman. In many cases, federal land under production for oil and gas also have a geothermal resources, she said.
Kathi Montgomery, a Montana Department of Environmental Quality energy program specialist, said hot water often comes out of the ground along with oil and gas. That water must be treated and re-injected into the ground. She was at an injection site once where the water was 180 degrees.
“That is hot enough to generate electricity,” she said.
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