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Title: Geothermal energy development. Hearing before the Subcommittee on Energy Research and Water Resources of the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, United States Senate, Ninety-Fourth Congress, First Session

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OSTI ID:7294562

Delays in leasing and loan guarantee programs for geothermal research and development were the subject of committee hearings chaired by Senator Frank Church. Fourteen persons representing the Idaho Raft River Cooperative and the Bureau of Land Management made statements offering reasons for the delays, including: (1) ERDA has been indecisive and reluctant to proceed; (2) the Raft River project has a complex land pattern and private ownership; (3) Raft River has leases to be renewed and no bases for negotiation until ERDA underwrites some of the research risks; (4) ERDA encouraged Idaho to proceed with two years of successful exploratory drilling and has since delayed funds for further work; and (5) Pacific Northwest geothermal projects have been delayed by environmental and legal constraints, and financing and technical problems. ERDA representatives responded that more information and orderly planning are needed before continuing. New technology must be developed, and ERDA prefers a deliberate approach. (DCK)

Research Organization:
U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, Subcommittee on Energy Research and Water Resources, Washington, DC
OSTI ID:
7294562
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English