International geothermal meet heats up Valemount (The Rocky Mountain Goat)
It turned out to be an oddly warm weekend in February, but the discussions and energy seemed even hotter at a geothermal workshop hosted by the Valemount Community Forest on Friday and Saturday.
About 100 people, many from the Robson Valley and some from as far away as Banff, Calgary, Castlegar, Whitehorse, Oregon and Alaska showed up on Feb. 12th and 13th for presentations and a panel discussion around the potential for various geothermal applications in the Valemount area.
The workshop started early Friday afternoon with “Geothermal 101” from Craig Dunn, chief geologist with Borealis Geopower. Next came a close-up look at the variety of direct-use applications in Klamath Falls, presented by Toni Boyd, formerly of the Geo-Heat Centre at the Oregon Institute of Technology. Even though low-cost natural gas is available in Klamath Falls, geothermal heat is used to melt snow on sidewalks and bridges, heat hospitals, homes, public buildings, most of the OIT campus, and brew craft beer at what used to be the city’s old creamery. Boyd says she didn’t know as a child that the pool she swam in was heated by geothermal – now she can help you find out just about anything you need to know about direct-use, including some advice on what hasn’t worked and why.
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