PGV plans new well

[dakine]

These strict requirememts, along with many others, most likely played a part in the land swap deal and project relocation to Wao Kele O Puna.

Actually it was the efforts made by Puna Geothermal Community, The Volcano Community Association, The National Park, Sierra Club and Pele Defense Fund combined with the beginning of the Puu Oo eruption smack dab in the middle of the area permitted for the initial exploratory wells that turned that trick.

[dakine]

PGV was one of the first geothermal electric plants to be built on this planet.

Once again Ted you've pulled one out of thin air! i.e. that statement is way off...

The first geothermal wells drilled in Geyser Canyon, California were the first in the Western Hemisphere. The first power plant at the Geysers was privately developed by the owner of The Geysers Resort and opened in 1921... more here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Geysers

And then there is the geothermal energy use in New Zealand that is strongly tied to Wairakei, where the first geothermal plant was opened in 1958... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geothermal...ew_Zealand

[leilanidude]

PGV will occasionally have to drill new wells since they are using the old technology and methods.

That isn't true, either. PGV now uses 2 separate generating systems. Ormat added the bottoming OEC technology to Puna's operation in 2011 to expand production capacity. It is the latest and greatest tech being used in geothermal, worldwide.

[Guest]

Happy new year everyone. 2015 that's very cool to even write, now if I could only find my deLorean. Thanks everyone for the discussion of something of great importance to our community yesterday, today and tomorrow. The current geothermal with all that old tech and methods should do what they agreed to do, like build sound barriers, and much much more. The old and new wells should all be tested for leaks of pollution both in the air and back into the ground.

experimental Geothermal wells have been drilled in the Puna district for over 50 years now. Yes we have had our fair share of drilling noise, accidental and planned blowouts, nightmares, and dead trees. All this geothermal here at home for higher electric rates and lower property values does not seem right. Our keiki should have the classes set up at schools to learn about geothermal to possibly have first cracks at those retirement type jobs. Our elderly and or sick should have had access to better hospital care and doctors by now. The folks who are a bit more affected by the geothermal leaks and blowouts should have been relocated by now so that the folks who love geothermal wouldn't have to hear or read all the NIMBY negative comments about their paradise.
So now in over 50 years of sharing and sacrificing our Puna lands, Puna roads, Puna water, and basic qualities of life with several neighboring geothermal companies, how has this benefited our puna and the next generations who want to call Puna home? Could our county and state vehicles be fueled up everyday by geothermal made electric instead of high taxed gas and oil? could close residential neighborhoods like Nanawale and Leilani have discounted or free electric? Could our keiki have better educations, could our sick have better facilities? NO, No, No, royalties and profits from this dirty, sneaky, and lying geothermal plant obviously helps visitors and investors only. JMO.

[ironyak]

Originally posted by dakine
ironyak - These strict requirements, along with many others, most likely played a part in the land swap deal and project relocation to Wao Kele O Puna.

Actually it was the efforts made by Puna Geothermal Community, The Volcano Community Association, The National Park, Sierra Club and Pele Defense Fund combined with the beginning of the Puu Oo eruption smack dab in the middle of the area permitted for the initial exploratory wells that turned that trick.


Agreed - there were many groups, with many motivations, along with an eerily timed and placed eruption, that drove the outcome. I meant that the strict monitoring and reporting requirements seen in the final, but not draft, approval most likely helped to motivate the eventual ~25000 acre land swap deal.
http://evols.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/bi...hermal.pdf
(PDF 8.4meg 263 pgs 1985)

Back to PGV. All I see on the website is noise and H2S monitoring.
http://72.253.107.171/pgv/pgv.asp

Does anyone know of additional required monitoring?

Anyone know how the numerous concerns outlined for the Campbell geothermal development were addressed and if they were or were not applied to the PGV development less than 10 years later?

[geochem]

Mostly nonsense. The eruption did not start until after the land swap - pushed by Sierra Club and VCA - had been agreed to. Note too, that the required monitoring was for a development substantially larger than PGV's 35 MWe - last time I checked, the Geysers Geothermal Field, with over 1000 MWe capacity had 3 air monitoring stations. (don't claim to know what the current situation is...)

This is the typical fear-mongering and whining the community has been subjected to for decades - demanding more, and more extensive monitoring than has been done for any similar technology - the HELCO power plants in Hilo produce one hundred to one thousand times the air pollution on a per megawatt hour basis than the PGV plant (in a more populous region) - yet no calls for monitoring there. Then, when excessive, unnecessary monitoring is required of the new technology, whine about the technology being more expensive.

The alleged threats are purely imaginary and any real data that contradicts the nonsensical claims - such as the scientific papers posted earlier - are completely ignored.

[kalakoa]

typical fear-mongering and whining the community has been subjected to for decades

Applies equally well to everything, not just PGV.

[snorkle]

Were any of the HELCO plants in Hilo constructed a quarter mile upwind of an established neighborhood?

[dakine]

The history of geothermal in Hawaii varies a bit based on who's telling the story.. and of course pahoated's is always the most entertaining.. but it does do one good to try and gain some perspective on how we got here.

The original Geothermal Energy.. which I believe was the first extensive study of geothermal in Hawaii is here:

http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bit...energy.pdf

and is well worth the read for the development of an understanding of what's going on.

Further, Jim Kauahikaua's (USGS) Volcanic Activity and Ground Deformation Hazard Analysis for the Hawaii Geothermal Project Environmental Impact Statement goes into greater detail from a volcanological perspective, and can be found here:

http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1994/0553/report.pdf

There is also a short paper, entitled The History of Geothermal Development in Hawaii, by Puna Pono Alliance here:

http://punapono.com/docs/eddocs/3.pdf

that simplifies, but still gives a historical overview of geothermal energy development in Hawaii.

And of course Google is filled with others and it's worth the effort to read through some of them if one wants to develop an educated opinion on the subject.

[Obie]

quote:

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Originally posted by snorkle

Were any of the HELCO plants in Hilo constructed a quarter mile upwind of an established neighborhood?

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Yes