Geothermal
Yukon is located in an area of the Pacific known as the Ring of Fire. Because of this, Yukon Energy believes the potential is good for finding geothermal resources significant enough to produce a substantial amount of electricity – possibly between 500 and 1,500 megawatts of power.
With some financial assistance from the Yukon Cold Climate Innovation Centre, we are using remote sensing satellite imagery and infrared thermal sensors to find sites where geothermal resources exist. In the north, geothermal resources are buried deep in the earth, requiring drilling to a depth of several kilometres. It’s believed that the use of satellite imagery and thermal sensors will help narrow the search in terrms of locating geothermal hotspots.
On a smaller scale, Yukon Energy is using a warm water reservoir underlying Whitehorse to heat our fish hatchery.