Feasibility study to support development of Sage’s closed loop geothermal energy systems on military bases, with Houston’s Ellington Air Force base first in line.
HOUSTON, Texas – Texas based geothermal energy company Sage Geosystems and the Bureau of Economic Geology (Bureau) at the University of Texas at Austin Jackson School of Geoscience have been selected by the US Air Force to perform a feasibility study in cooperation with the Texas Air National Guard on the deployment of closed loop geothermal energy systems to supply clean and secure power to Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base in Houston Texas. The funding is a Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase 1 award from the Air Force AFWERX innovation program.
The systems being pioneered by Sage, a newly launched geothermal venture led by former oil and gas industry executives, are attractive to the military due to their small physical footprint, grid independence, security and non-reliance on supply chains, and sustainability. The Bureau will provide scientific support for the project, including detailed resource and geology assessments. Dr. Ken Wisian, Associate Director of the Bureau and former Air Force Major General will represent Bureau in the project. “This pilot has the potential to prove the economic viability of a new paradigm of geothermal power generation anywhere,” Dr. Wisian noted. The Texas National Guard hopes the feasibility study will result in a geothermal power facility at a military installation in Texas in the near term. “The work being conducted by Sage Geosystems is of critical interest to our organization to ensure based energy resiliency,” remarked the National Guard program director. Sage, a graduate of UT Austin’s Geothermal Entrepreneurship Organization, recently closed its first funding round in an unprecedented deal between climate venture fund Virya, LLC and international drilling contractor H&P.
Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs are highly competitive programs that encourage domestic small businesses to engage in Federal Research/Research and Development (R/R&D) with the potential for commercialization. Sage and the Bureau expect to deliver their feasibility study to the Air Force in sixty days.
About Sage Geosystems:
Sage Geosystems in a Houston Texas based geothermal energy firm, founded by former Weatherford Global Head of R&D, Lev Ring, and former Shell Chief Scientist of Wells, Lance Cook. They reunited after working for decades together in the oil and gas industry to brainstorm new scalable geothermal energy concepts. Urged on by their families to “turn toward the green side of the force,” they got hooked on the idea of leveraging the core competencies of oil and gas to unlock this baseload and ubiquitous form of green energy, and soon after launched Sage. Sage utilizes a number of novel approaches to heat harvesting, including a combination of single well closed loop system and novel use of stimulation it calls ‘HeatRoots’ to create an AGS/EGS hybrid geothermal system. More about Sage at www.sagegeo.com.
Lev Ring
