42 U.S.C. § 17195 — Geothermal energy production from oil and gas fields and recovery and production of geopressured gas resources

(a) In general: The Secretary must set up a research, development, demonstration, and commercial-application program supporting geothermal energy production from oil and gas fields, and production and recovery of energy — including electricity — from geopressured resources, along with supporting research and resource characterization. (b) Geothermal energy production from oil and gas fields: The Secretary must run a grant program funding at least 3 demonstration projects using geothermal techniques (such as advanced organic rankine cycle systems) at marginal, unproductive, or productive oil and gas wells. As much as practical, awards should (1) cover at least 5 well sites each; (2) use hot water sources between 150 and 300 degrees Fahrenheit; (3) cover project sizes up to 1 megawatt; (4) be spread across different sites; (5) be replicable elsewhere; (6) help identify the best techniques among competing options; (7) include business plans capable of scaling to high-volume equipment production and wide operational support; and (8) meet any other criteria the Secretary needs to run the program and collect data. The Secretary must favor proposals that address several of these points at once. (c) Grant awards: Each demonstration grant under (b) must include: a site engineering study; a detailed economic assessment of site conditions; feasibility studies on replicability; design or adaptation of existing technology for the site; equipment installation, service, and support; at least 1 year of operation with ongoing monitoring; and validation of the technical and economic assumptions, with lessons learned documented. (d) Geopressured gas resource recovery and production: (1) The Secretary must run a program supporting cost-effective ways to produce energy from geopressured resources. (2) The Secretary must ask for preliminary engineering designs for geopressured production and recovery facilities. (3) Based on those designs, the Secretary must award grants — which can be cost-shared — for detailed engineering and technical plans. (4) Based on the final plans, the Secretary must award cost-shared construction grants for demonstration facilities that show real potential to economically recover heat, kinetic energy, and gas from geopressured resources. (e) Competitive grant selection: At least 90 days after December 19, 2007, the Secretary must run a national solicitation for grants under subsections (b) and (d), choosing recipients competitively using each subsection's own criteria. (f) Well drilling: None of this section's funds may be used to drill new wells.