Continuing surveys
The Company is engaged in an active exploration program focused on the zone from 3-4 km to locate wet systems suitable for direct heat and low temperature power generation. At greater depths of around 5 km, the Company's permits, in both the Latrobe Valley and the Geelong area, offer the potentail for hot fractured rock systems.
The Company is currently carrying out heat flow mapping in its Gippsland and Geelong permits which involves temperature measurements in various monitoring bores as well as re-entering a previously drilled petroleum well at Loy Yang, owned by Lakes Oil NL. The Company has an agreement with Lakes Oil NL in relation to sharing data, assets and the cost of exploration activities. Lakes Oil has Petroleum exploration permits concurrent with the Geothermal exploration permits held by Greenearth.
A Magneto telluric survey is planned in September 2008 in the Geelong area. The survey will tie in with existing seismic survey lines and deep wells southwest of Geelong and seismic lines in the Queenscliff area to the east. The intervening area has no modern geophysical data and this survey will provide our first subsurface view of an area that has potential for both the shallow wet and deeper hot fractured rock geothermal systems.
While this is the focus of a number of established geothermal companies exploring elsewhere in Australia, Greenearth's prospects offer the clear advantage of location under the industrial hub and transmission lines of South-eatern Australia. Being located adjacent to markets, development options can be modest with small power plants, and do not need the massive large scale proposal and associated development costs that appear necessary for geothermal resource development in remote areas of Australia.
Discussions with Industry and Government partners
Discussions are proceeding with a number of major utilities and industries in the Latrobe Valley that have signifigant greenhouse gas footprints, are high energy users or are involved in technical innovation in relation to the efficient utilization of brown coal for power generation.
The Company is actively with government and industry partners in developing proposals to advance the potential of geothermal in Victoria. The Company is seeking significant funding for exploration in calender years 2008 and 2009. The proposals centre around the Latrobe Valley, Seaspray and Geelong areas.
Both the Commonwealth and Victorian Government are very supportive of renewable energy. With the setting of renewable energy targets, renewable energy certificates and the planned introduction of a carbon tax, there is considerable government funding to assist geothermal companies such as Greenearth. The Latrobe Valley has the most concentrated greenhouse gas footprint in Australia. Government is focused to see meaningful progress in mitigating carbon emissions utilizing energy sources that are renewable and have no carbon footprint and has a funding framework supporting that objective.