Geothermal California

摘要

California contains, by far, the greatest geothermal generating capacity in the United States, and with the possible exception of Alaska, the greatest potential for development of additional resources. California has nearly two-thirds of U.S. geothermal electrical installed capacity of nearly 3,000 megawatts (MW). Depending on assumptions regarding geothermal reservoir characteristics and future market conditions, additional resources of between 2,000 and 10,000 MW might be developed (Muffler, 1979). However, current industry estimates are nearer the lower number. High-temperature geothermal resources are distributed unevenly across the state. The map accompanying this article shows locations of existing power plants (solid stars) and projected or planned developments (open stars), together with areas characterized by heat flow greater than 100 mW m~(-2) (ha-chured areas). A detailed U.S. Geological Survey Heat Flow Database for California (Williams, 2001) is accessible on the Internet at: http://proto-dev.wr.usgs.gov/heatflow/index.html.