Take ethanol, for instance. It was the choice fuel for some of the first combustion engines. In the 1820s, Samuel Morey used an ethanol blend in his experimental internal combustion engine. Due to the rise of steam power, ethanol remained an obscure fuel until 40 years later, when the internal combustion engine took off thanks to a more efficient design by German inventor Nikolaus Otto.

But also around that time, America discovered a cheap, domestic oil supply, which would compete with ethanol and later become our preferred fuel despite ethanol’s early success. Even Henry Ford thought ethanol would withstand the test of time. He designed his Model T to run on ethanol, going so far as to call it “the fuel of the future.”

Now, 100 years after the first Model T took to the roads, our leaders are spouting the same tired slogans. Our reliance on oil has not been clipped. Instead, we are faced with new debates over ethanol’s true energy output and its overall effectiveness as a cheap, efficient alternative to gasoline.

While technology can’t always help these old ideas become modern-day miracle cures for oil fever, there is one ancient technology that could provide clean, renewable energy for the planet’s 6.6 billion people.

Geothermal energy has been used for centuries. It helped provide the Vikings with heat and hot water when they settled in Iceland, and it is still a widely used energy source. Geothermal energy produces more than 25% of the power in Iceland, and is used to heat a majority of the homes in the Scandinavian nation.

But that’s in Iceland. For the rest of the world, it will take a little innovation. A 2006 report issued by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology claims that it would be possible to affordably generate 100 gigawatts of electricity or more by 2050 with a $1 billion investment. But it will take a technological boost to make this possible.

For the rest of the world where volcanic activity is minimal, there are two options to extract steam from the earth: water pumping and drilling. Water mixed with chemicals can be pumped into the ground to enlarge the natural cracks and passageways, creating big enough steamholes to effectively run large turbines.

Then there’s drilling. Thanks in part to our never-ending quest for oil, drillers have developed the equipment and techniques to drill farther into the Earth’s crust than ever before.

If we can tap into the deep geothermal wells all over the world, the result will be clean, cheap, reliable power. And that’s an old technology we can live with.

Best,
Gunner
June 25, 2007

P.S.: This is a story that I will be following for quite awhile. I already have many similar themes developing in my newsletter, Penny Stock Fortunes.

Investing in Old Energy Ideas was originally featured in the Penny Sleuth.