Santa Rosa and Calpine Corporation, an wenergy company, arepartnersintheworlds largest geothermalwastewatertopowerproject usingurbaneffluenttogeneratecleanenergy For Calpine, the arrangement

nt has revived geothermal steam fields that were declining from overuse Every day the Santa Rosa Geysers Recharge Project pumps some12milliongallonsoftreated wastewater through a pipeline to a mountaintop 40 miles from the city and theninjectsitdown intoanaquiferamileandahalfunderground LakeCountyrecycleseightmilliongallonsofwastewateraday these installations generate 200 megawatts of electricity without discharging any greenhouse gasesorpollutantsintotheatmosphere thetechniquecouldsupply10percentofthenationselectricityby2050,andotherestimatesgo higher Eventreatedtolegalstandards,thewastewaterstillcontainednutrientsharmfultoaquaticlife Production of electricity wasdepletingtheundergroundresourcefasterthan itcouldbenaturally replenished onesimplesolution:movingthewastewatertowhereitwaswanted Using pipes drilled through the rock to extract steam from its source, Pacific Gas and Electric Companybeganoperatingan11megawattplant Generation at the Geysers peaked in 1987 at 2,000 megawatts, enough to power two million homes Rainfallcouldnotseepintothesandstonereservoirfastenoughtorefillthereserves Calpine uses $2.5 million worth of its own geothermal electricity annually topumpthewaterto this peak, where it is stored before being injected into the steam fields east of the Mayacamas crest A similar enhanced geothermal project in Basel, Switzerland, triggered an earthquake measuring3.4modestbysomestandardsbutenoughtocausemorethan$8millionindamage Santa Rosa and Lake County have effectively reducedgreenhousegasemissionsbytwobillion pounds a yearthe amount that a coalburning power plant of comparable size would spew intotheatmosphere eliminatedtheneedtobuildnewstorageandtreatmentfacilities InSantaRosaandLakeCountyinCalifornia,newformsofenergyarebeingusedasaresultof astronglygreencommunity.Thecommunityspowersourceistheirownwastewater,whichcamefrom theirshowers,sinks,andtoilets.Thiswateristreatedandthenusedforsteampowerthatissupplying theireverydaylives.Thedrawbacksfromthisuseoriginallywasthattheenergycompanieswereusing geysers,andusingthesteamthatemanatedfromthem,whichwasunsustainablebecausetheraincould notseepintothegeyserscracksenoughtobesustainablebeforeitwasusedagain.Thisprocesswas alsoleavingthecrackswithinemptyandtheyendeduptryingtoreformastherocksmoved.This

movementwascausinglargereactionsinthebedrockthatwouldcreatesubstantiallymoreearthquakes thanwhattheareahadbeforehand.Eventually,thecompaniesbeganusingthewastewaterfromthe homesintheareassothatitwouldpreventearthquakes,anditcouldbemoresustainable.Thisswitch wasquitesuccessfulandisstillinuse. LakeCountyandSantaRosaareconsideredtobeaheadofthecurvewiththeirgreen,and sustainableformofelectricity.Theprocesstheyuseisfromsteampower,butitusesthewaterthat wouldnormallybetakenawayfromhouseholdsafteruseandsenttotheocean.Theseprocessesuse thiswaterthatisconsideredwastewater,andboilsittoharvestpowerfromthesteamthatrunsthe community.Thewholecommunityisenvironmentallyinfluenced,andpreferredtohaveasourceof sustainableenergy,andwerehappytohelpwiththeirownpower,especiallysincetheirwaterfromtheir housemakestheirhousespower.Thiscommunityshouldbeseenasinspirationthroughouttheentire country,andpossibly,theworld.Ifweallfollowedinthiscommunitysfootsteps,wecouldfindaway toproducesustainableenergythroughouttheworld.Ifweusedthisasaworldlysourceofenergy,we couldbegintoprovideenergyforcountriesandtheircommunitiesthatwouldneverhavedreamedof havingasourceofpower.

SoWhat? SaysWho? Thisinformationisimportantbecauseitcouldbehisinformationwasshownbythecommunitiesof usedtocreateaglobalpowersource LakeCountyandSantaRosa WhatIf? WhatDoesThisRemindMeOf? Ifthisinformationhadnotbeenshown,our ThisremindsmeoftheHooverDam,whichuses energycompaniescouldstillbeatastandstillin watertocreateenergywithoutanydownsides thefuture thatareknownexceptforgettinganimalscaught inthepiping,whichcouldbesolved