Among the ample sunlight and wind that New Mexico receives, there’s another renewable resource that the state has in abundance, and the Senate Conservation Committee showed unanimous support for its utilization.
Senate Bill 59 addresses the creation and funding of programs that would manage and support New Mexico’s path to geothermal technologies.
Bill Sponsor Senator Gerald Ortiz y Pino wants us to join the other states that are beginning to use this technology.
“This bill would give New Mexico the opportunity to join other states that started moving in this direction and actually aren't as well situated as we are. The states of Colorado and Texas have already begun developing geothermal activity.”
Senator Ortiz y Pino talked about the test well that was drilled in the Animas region that was over 4 miles deep with drill technology from Sandia National Labs and how this showed that New Mexico is a great spot for geothermal plants.
“They were hitting rock that was so hot at four and a half miles down because in New Mexico the Earth’s crust is shallow, you go down that deep you’ll hit temperatures 400 degrees Fahrenheit, which is twice what you need to boil water. You run a loop through that, a closed loop, bring the heat up, not water but the heat, and it runs a heat exchanger and a turbine and generates electricity, cools and returns down in a continuous loop. 24/7 365 a year.”
A Similar bill was passed by legislatures during the previous session, however the governor did not sign the bill and it was pocket vetoed.
