Editor’s Note: Peter Johnston is the deputy leader of the Alberta Green Party and ran in the recent provincial election in Edmonton-Glenora. This is his second column in a five week series on energy in Alberta.  

Alberta has an energy resource that no one is talking about.

It’s not wind or solar energy, and it’s certainly not dirty oilsands bitumen.

No, Alberta’s ace in the hole is geothermal energy.

The mountains on Alberta’s western border provide the perfect conditions for the production of geothermal energy, and could supply all our provincial requirements, possibly with some surplus left over for export. Alberta could eliminate coal energy and the strip mines that go along with it. We could even erase nuclear power from our future plans. 

Here’s how it works. A few metres below the surface, the temperature remains stable throughout the year. Generally the ground temperature below two metres approximates the mean annual air temperature. By running several hundred metres of pipe underground with water circulating through it, enough warmth can be extracted to heat buildings. 

In the summer the system can be run in reverse, using the lower ground temperatures to cool buildings instead of air conditioning. 

If the buildings are properly insulated, these smaller systems could virtually eliminate heating or air conditioning costs and greatly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  

There are over a million such installations in the United States and about 40,000 in Canada. Such systems can be retrofitted in existing buildings, allowing our towns and cities to progressively lower their carbon footprint for years to come. 

High temperature steam from much hotter formations at greater depths is another way of collecting energy. Typically the steam is then used to drive turbines, which power electricity generators. 

In order to reach rock formations at sufficient temperatures, a kilometre-deep hole is drilled. The depth varies from one location to another depending on the geologic conditions, but depths of several kilometres are not uncommon. Some locations are “dry” and require water to be injected down the hole to generate steam, which rises under pressure through a second hole to drive the turbines. In other instances, the rock already contains superheated water, which flashes into steam and shoots to the surface like a geyser. 

Geothermal energy provides emission-free and constant power and, unlike carbon capture, it’s a proven technology. The first geothermal power plant was built in Italy in 1904 and is still running. 

So why isn’t geothermal a big part of the energy discussion in here in Alberta? I think politicians and industry realize that the development of geothermal energy would require a profound change within the power industry. Much of the existing infrastructure would become redundant and the industry, which has evolved to build and service it, would become redundant as well. That’s a very powerful disincentive to developing geothermal power.

Solar and wind power don’t pose as great a threat because these technologies can’t provide enough energy to oust coal and oil. Geothermal power generation, on the other hand, is capable of entirely replacing the existing electricity industry.

However, this profound change would take several decades to implement, even if maximum effort were applied. A slow switch would provide contractors with ample opportunity to find work within the new system, especially in retrofit conversions. 

The provincial government should start a pilot geothermal project as soon as possible, and bring in legislation favouring the development of geothermal energy over the further development of fossil fuel or nuclear energy. 

Or, at the very least, get people talking about it.