April 29, 2024
Shari Kelley, New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources geophysicist and field geologist, was a guest on the Albuquerque Journal’s Tech Outlook podcast, talking about the potential of geothermal energy in New Mexico. She was also quoted in a March 25 article about geothermal advances in New Mexico. Shari is leading the Bureau of Geology’s geothermal research program, which recently received $1.5 million in state funding, as described in the article. Part of this funding will focus on creating comprehensive information about geothermal resources in New Mexico that will be available to geothermal developers. On the podcast, she explains how the earth’s natural heat can be harnessed and used as a resource to heat or cool buildings or to generate electricity. Geothermal heat offers a means to produce energy with lower carbon dioxide emissions compared to fossil fuels, and it is also a renewable resource. Because of New Mexico’s geology, geothermal resources exist within the state, and geological studies allow these resources to be found. However, further studies are needed in some parts of the state, particularly to identify so-called “blind geothermal resources”—deep-seated resources for which there is no obvious expression on the surface.
Listen to the full 25-minute podcast at the Tech Outlook website and read the article at the Albuquerque Journal website.