A renewable energy test project funded by economic stimulus dollars could sink a borehole deeper than ever if approved by the federal government.

Nye County commissioners last month approved a resolution in support of the demonstration project on the Nevada Test Site, a joint venture by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and the National Nuclear Security Administration that involves using a series of injection wells to produce steam that will produce electricity.

Levi Kryder, geoscience manager for the Nye County Nuclear Waste Repository Project Office, said a set of boreholes would be drilled to between 15,000 to 20,000 feet deep.

"There's money available under the stimulus funds for governments and universities for research. One of the things that came up is the deep geothermal. I've heard it called 'the hot, dry rocks project,'" Kryder said. "My understanding is this is a project that Los Alamos National Labs came up with 20, 30 years ago."

While the theory has been confirmed by scientists as sound, the project was never actually constructed, he said.

Kryder said temperature of the rock at that depth is about 360 degrees, which is the required heat for the project. It involves injecting fluid through fractured rock. Water travels up through the rocks and gets heated, ultimately resulting in steam as it travels through a pressure chamber at the top of the well, which drives a turbine generating electricity.

The probable location of the test would be at Mercury, Kryder said.

"The geothermal wells in the northern part of the county are much shallower than this. As far as I can tell the deepest borehole ever drilled on the test site for nuclear testing was maybe 8,000 feet," he said.

The consultants involved in the project are working down to the wire on a memorandum of understanding with Nevada Test Site officials to make sure legal requirements are met before submitting the application, which is due next month, Kryder said.

Kryder said the borehole will be sunk in the earth's crust but not as far as the mantle.

The technology could be implemented throughout the U.S. if the demonstration is successful.

"Nye County seeks to be a leader in renewable energy," the resolution states. "Nye County is already host to several other renewable energy resource initiatives, specifically solar and wind projects."