The Bureau of Land Management last week announced it will prepare a programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS) analyzing areas with high potential for geothermal energy development.
The PEIS will examine the environmental impacts of boosting geothermal leasing in areas with high potential for near-term exploration and development of geothermal resources, focusing on areas with high geothermal potential, including areas in northwestern Nevada.
"The BLM is sitting on the largest supply of geothermal energy in this country, and it is time to launch a program to develop those resources," said acting director Jim Hughes.
Geothermal resources (steam, hot water) are used directly to heat buildings and in greenhouses and aquaculture, and indirectly to generate electric power. Half of the nation's geothermal energy production occurs on federal land, much of it in California and Nevada.
Nevada's geothermal plants have a generation capacity of 270 megawatts, enough to power 270,000 households. More geothermal leases are in effect in Nevada than in all the other states combined. During the past ten years, 95 percent of all leases issued in the United States have been in Nevada.
