A state that has always been infamous for its coal profile will now looks toward renewable energy for power, thanks to Google. The renowned search engine gave a $481,500 grant to Southern Methodist University for a research to investigate green resource in West Virginia. The Google-funded project has discovered a large geothermal resource under the state, which could more than double the state’s electricity generation capacity.
The study was conducted with more detailed mapping and more data points than had been used in previous research and helped the researchers calculate that 78% more geothermal energy is under the state than was previously expected. Presently West Virginia generates 16,350 MW energy, but the report concluded that if only 2% of the available geothermal energy could be harnessed, it could produce up to 18,890 MW of capacity from clean energy.
Via: CleanTechnica