Message #35 From:
Stock News Bot Date: January 18, 2007 05:00:00 AM
RZ News Raser Secures Second 50-Year Geothermal Lease
PROVO, Utah--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Raser Technologies, Inc. (NYSE Arca: RZ), a technology licensing and
development company established to develop and license advanced electric
motor, controller and related technologies as well as to establish
geothermal electricity generating plants, announced today that it has
secured geothermal rights to the McGee geothermal lease properties in
Nevada under the terms of a 50-year lease agreement. This is the second
such agreement Raser has made as it pursues its development stage
business plan to establish a geothermal power generation business.
In exchange for $5,000 in cash and 5,000 shares of restricted Raser
common stock, Raser may begin development and construction of geothermal
power plants on the leased lands located in Nevada. The leased
properties are within a few miles of the previously leased acreage but
are suspected to lie in a different geological fault area. They also
fall within the US Geological Survey’s “known
geothermal resources area” (KGRA). Basically,
KGRAs are either areas of obvious geothermal activity such as hot
springs designated by the US Geological Survey (USGS), or areas where
applications to lease a property overlap to such a degree as to indicate
strong geothermal potential.
Brent M. Cook, CEO of Raser, stated, “We
suspect that the property covered by this new lease is part of a
different geological fault structure than the majority of the previously
leased properties and helps diversify our geothermal product
opportunities. We are pleased with this new addition and look forward to
developing and optimizing this resource.”
Raser’s recently acquired heat-transfer
technology involves binary cycle generation, in which the steam or water
from the geothermal reservoir never comes into direct contact with the
blades of the turbine generator. This method provides a competitive
advantage when used for water-based geothermal resources of generally
low temperature, ranging from approximately 93 to 183 degrees C. The
technology is also effective at higher temperatures. In a binary system,
warm geothermal fluid is pumped to the surface and channeled into heat
transfer equipment. The geothermal water is then used as a source to
heat a “working fluid,”
which then vaporizes to turn the turbine generator. After the heat
transfer process is complete, the now cooler water is returned to the
reservoir. The primary technical advantage of the binary method is its
ability to efficiently convert more commonly found low temperature water
resources into power through the use of working fluids that have a low
boiling point. It also has the tremendous advantage of producing zero
emissions, making it a renewable “non-polluting”
energy source.
Geothermal energy, which can be converted to electricity using the heat
from the Earth’s interior, qualifies as a
renewable source of energy that does not rely on any type of fossil
fuel. When properly managed, a geothermal resource is sustainable and
renewable.
The government has recognized the potential in developing this form of
electricity generation and has created incentives within the tax code to
encourage its propagation. Tax credits and various other tax benefits
are available for activities involved in geothermal power plant
development and electricity generation. Many of these tax benefits are
permanent parts of the US tax code. Additionally, the Internal Revenue
Code provides for a renewable electricity production tax credit that
historically has been renewed by a vote of Congress before it expires.
Raser Technologies intends to develop geothermal power plants in order
to reap the financial benefits of both the revenue derived from the
generation of the electricity as well as from the monetization of these
tax credits.
About Raser Technologies
Raser is a publicly-traded technology licensing company focused on
improving the efficiency of rotating electromagnetic and heat transfer
applications within the Transportation, Industrial and Power Generation
markets. Further information on Raser may be found at: www.rasertech.com.
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within
the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E
of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including, but not limited to,
statements regarding the following: our beliefs about the performance
and market applicability of our products, including our heat recovery
technology; our beliefs about the status and enforceability of the
Company’s intellectual property; our beliefs
about the strength of our existing and potential business relations in
both the motor industry and the geothermal industry; our beliefs about
the strength and enforceability of our agreements with the lessor and
other third parties; our beliefs about the potential for geothermal
power generation on the leased properties; our belief about the Company’s
ability to exploit the available geothermal resources; our beliefs about
the performance capabilities of our technology; our beliefs regarding
the time needed to develop and bring into service geothermal power
plants; our beliefs about the geothermal market; our beliefs about
potential financing opportunities; our understanding and investigation
into tax credits and potential benefits for renewable energy projects;
our beliefs about the funding requirements for follow-on development
work; our ability to commercially license our technology; our ability to
hire employees sufficient to accelerate engineering and testing; our
ability to raise sufficient financing to take advantage of our
intellectual property and leased properties; our understanding of
heat-transfer technology and our beliefs regarding our research and
development efforts.
These forward-looking statements involve certain risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ, including,
without limitation, the competitive environment and our ability to
compete in the industry; our inability to adapt our technology for
geothermal applications; our inability to adapt our technology for
specific applications; our inability to achieve commercial acceptance of
our technology; the strength of our patent and pending patents and other
intellectual property and those of our competitors; our inability to
protect our intellectual property; our inability to attract, train and
retain key personnel; and such other risks as identified in our
quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2006,
as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and all subsequent
filings, which contain and identify important factors that could cause
the actual results to differ materially from those contained in our
projections or forward-looking statements.
All forward-looking statements in this press release are based on
information available to us as of the date hereof, and we undertake no
obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or
circumstances occurring after the date of this press release.
