State contributes geothermal data

Alaska’s Division of Geological and Geophysical Services has contributed data about Alaska’s geothermal energy resources to a new national geothermal database, the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, or DNR, announced May 29. Called the National Geothermal Data System and funded by the Department of Energy and state geological surveys, the database provides free online access to geothermal data from all 50 U.S. states.

The database, accessible on the Internet at geothermaldata.org, includes data from 650,000 well logs, 530,000 borehole temperature measurements and 1.7 million well headers for oil and gas, water and geothermal wells, DNR said.

Alaska data, in some cases previously unpublished, came from geothermal exploration conducted in the late 1970s and early 1980s, DNR said. And a new phase of Alaska geothermal exploration is producing a wealth of further data, the agency said.

Alaska geothermal resources characterized by the data include 97 geothermal springs and 15 sites where geothermal energy is used for recreation, power generation, space heating and agriculture, DNR said. Data from across the state includes aqueous geochemistry; bottom-hole temperatures from oil and gas wells; information about volcanic vents and fumaroles; and records of earthquakes near hot springs.

The Division of Oil and Gas is also developing an online interactive map enabling access to data about Alaska geothermal sites, DNR said.

- Alan Bailey