While most solar companies are focused on generating electricity, GlassPoint Solar introduced a new method for extracting oil using the sun. The company’s enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technique uses a unique solar thermal trough system to superheat water to steam at 750 degrees Fahrenheit and uses the resulting steam to free excess oil from the underground deposits.

The process is efficient enough to reduce the cost of producing steam to below the cost of using natural gas to produce steam, according to GlassPoint. The company introduced the first solar EOR project in the world at the Berry Petroleum Company’s 21Z lease in McKittrick, Calif., last week. The event was attended, among others, by Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and California Independent Petroleum Association CEO Rock Zierman.

Steam-based EOR is the primary EOR method in the world, according to Jan Helbing, a spokesperson for GlassPoint. The overwhelming majority of steam generation for EOR is fueled by natural gas.

“In California, 40 percent of the state's oil production depends on steam for EOR, with EOR accounting for almost one-third of California's gas consumption,” he said. “When this project is at full-scale, it can produce 80 percent of a project’s steam needs. The rest would still be powered by natural gas.”

GlassPoint’s technology could help reduce the use of natural gas to produce steam. The device is called the Single Transit Trough. The design uses a glasshouse structure to enclose solar troughs, which, thanks to the protection afforded by the glasshouse, can use thin-lightweight, low-cost aluminum materials as the reflective trough. Other solar troughs must be designed to withstand the elements. The company also said the project was built in less than six weeks.

Though the technology could theoretically be adapted to solar electric generation, thus far, GlassPoint is only working on EOR, said Helbing.

“GlassPoint is solely focused on oil extraction at this point. The need for oil extraction is high,” he said. The company has other projects in the works, he said, but couldn’t offer details.

Image courtesy of GlassPoint Solar.