As the states seek outside of much-needed supplies of clean, reliable energy, others are looking to an unusual source: abandoned geothermal oil and gas wells.
Millions of unused wells are spread across the United Statesa remnant of an earlier era of fossil fuel production. The vast majority of sites have no official owner, and many are still polluting groundwater and leaking heat-trapping methane. The country has scratched a little in dealing with this problem.
Policymakers in both Republican- and Democratic-led states are investigating whether these sites could be converted into new geothermal wells. The holes have already been punched in the ground, after all. And areas with major oil and gas development have rich underground data that geothermal companies need to determine where and how to build their carbon-neutral systems.
The idea is new and largely untested, although scientists and startups work to change that. States are also laying the groundwork for action by removing regulatory barriers and launching comprehensive studies.
In Oklahoma, the state Senate is considering a the bill which would create a process for companies to buy abandoned oil and gas wells and reuse them for geothermal energy or underground energy storage. Oklahoma has identified more than 20,000 such wells, and state regulators estimate it would take 235 years and hundreds of millions of dollars to plug them all. Fixing a single old well can cost anywhere from $75,000 to $150,000 or more, at some estimates, depending on where it is and how difficult it is to clean.
The Recovery Act, which passed the Oklahoma House in March, is designed after a the same law that New Mexico passed last year to address its more than 2,000 orphan wells.
The Oklahoma bill “recognizes that these wells are a liability, and that there may be a way to turn them into some kind of revenue generator and give them value,” said Dave Tragethon, the nonprofit’s director of communications. Well Done Foundationwhich works to find and plug abandoned oil and gas wells across the country. “And if there’s value, that means there’s more interest in pursuing them and more opportunity to raise funding.”
In Alabama, legislators pass the law last month which allows the government to authorize and regulate the conversion of oil and gas wells to use renewable energy resources such as geothermal energy. North Dakota pass the bill last year requiring the legislative council to investigate the possibility of using unproductive wells to generate geothermal energy. And in Colorado, only state agencies launched a technical study assess the feasibility of reusing old wells for geothermal development and carbon capture and sequestration.
These efforts reflect increased bipartisan support for geothermal energy, which it largely has he remained unharmed to the Trump administration’s efforts to block renewable energy projects. The energy resource has the potential to help meet the nation’s energy needs while also reducing the planet’s heat emissions from electricity and heat.
Changing Wells Is Interesting But Difficult
Geothermal systems work by circulating fluids underground to capture naturally occurring heat, which can be used to run power plants or heat air and water directly in buildings. Industry is gain speed thanks to recent advances in drilling techniques and technology that make it technically possible or financially affordable to find geothermal energy in more areas.
Much of that success has come from the oil and gas industry, which skilled workers of drilling engineers and geoscientists, and deep pockets of cooperation, have helped launch to start and deploy modern systems. However, much of that expertise and funding is being poured into building new projects—without thinking about how to fix the leaky wells left by earlier generations.
