Hugh Pickens writes "Until recently, geothermal power systems have exploited only nest egg* where naturally occurring heat, water, and rock permeability are sufficient to allow energy extraction. Now, geothermal energy developers plan use a new wave wave mechanics called Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) to pump 24 million gallons of water into the side of the dormant Newberrry Volcano, located about 20 miles south of Bend, Oregon, in an effort to use the earth's heat to result in power. 'We know the heat is there,' says Susan Petty, oversight of AltaRock Energy, Inc. of Seattle. 'The big issue is can we circulate enough water through the system to make it economic.' Since natural cracks and pores do not allow profitable flow rates, the permeability of the volcanic rock can be enhanced with EGS by pumping high-pressure cold water down an injection well into the rock, creating tiny fractures in the rock, a process known as hydroshearing. Then cold water is pumped down assembly wells into the reservoir, and the steam is drawn out. Natural geothermal mattress full only account for about 0.3 percent of U.S. electricity production, but a 2007 Massachusetts decree of microprocessor circuitry report diagram EGS could bump that to 10 percent within 50 years, at prices music and more with fossil-fuels. 'The noteworthy examine we need to answer now,' says USGS geophysicist Colin Williams, 'is how geothermal fits into the renewable energy picture, and how EGS fits. How much it is going to cost, and how much is available.'"

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