Geothermal Electricity ready for prime time.

[woodgeek]

Another Dave Roberts explainer....

Geothermal energy is poised for a big breakout

“An engineering problem that, when solved, solves energy.”

www.vox.com

Bottom line, using fracking and water injection technology (rather than just natural hydrothermal sites) we can scale geothermal power production to the level that it could provide most US electricity needs for millennia, as always on baseload power with zero emissions.

Cost per kWh is a strong function of rock temperature AND skill in things like horizontal drilling and fracking large subterranean areas from a single small footprint. The fracking revolution of the last decade has essentially made a vast energy resource potentially affordable. For large areas west of Rockies, the projected price looks quite feasible. Presumably learning curve would bring that down.

 

[begreen]

I would love to see this happen in our state. Power companies like long-term investments for guaranteed results and the regional supplier is still not sold on geothermal, unfortunately. The risk I have been told is that in an earthquake prone region that there could be sudden changes in the subterranean structure that could dramatically affect output.

 

[semipro]

The risk I have been told is that in an earthquake prone region that there could be sudden changes in the subterranean structure that could dramatically affect output.

or that removal of enough geothermal heat may cause "unnatural" changes in the subterranean structure, I'd assume.
I'm not really a big fan of geothermal energy because I don't see it as renewable and tapping it may threaten other finite resources like drinking water aquifers.
I'd also challenge any notion that our use of geothermal sources won't alter things appreciably. That assumption with respect to other effects is a fallacy.

 

[GENECOP]

If billions can be made by the powers that control things, it will be exploited to its Max..but I think they want to use up a little more oil first..

 

[woodgeek]

or that removal of enough geothermal heat may cause "unnatural" changes in the subterranean structure, I'd assume.
I'm not really a big fan of geothermal energy because I don't see it as renewable and tapping it may threaten other finite resources like drinking water aquifers.
I'd also challenge any notion that our use of geothermal sources won't alter things appreciably. That assumption with respect to other effects is a fallacy.

I often felt the same about depletion of the resource, which happens rapidly at natural fields (which can connect to natural aquifers).

The article described the creating of artificial fields inside hot impermeable and dry rock. So at least in principle, not going to affect an aquifer if the wells are sealed.

Roberts also points out that seismically, the volume and pressure of water needed for geo are a lot lower than in fracking for FF, so concerns are less.

Faults should still be avoided, of course.

 

[semipro]

An interesting geothermal solution that uses the thermosiphon effect and closed loops to harvest heat.
I've been thinking for years about doing something similar for roadway deicing and summer cooling. It would be more "ground-source" than "geothermal" though, relying on insolation as the heat source.

Big oil invests in Eavor's "holy grail" pump-free geothermal loops

BP and Chevron have led a US$40 million investment round for a Canadian startup that claims to have developed a unique way to extract energy from geothermal heat on demand, using an unpowered looping fluid design that's already prototyped in Alberta.

newatlas.com

 

[peakbagger]

Sounds like the systems the DOE was trialing off Hawaii using the temperature difference between the deep ocean and the surface.

 

[begreen]

Sounds like the systems the DOE was trialing off Hawaii using the temperature difference between the deep ocean and the surface.

We visited that test project in the 1990s. It was fascinating to see all the different tests that were being done in addition to the small generator project. The spirulina farm using the nutrient-rich deep ocean waters spawned a market for a nutritional vitamin producer locally. My favorite was the student farm where they tested the effect of chilling the soil on crops in their 75-80º ambient temperatures. Brassicas did well, strawberries did ok and corn did poorly. That's not surprising, but it was great to see kids testing this.

 

[semipro]

DOE Awards $46 Million for Geothermal Initiative Projects with Potential to Power Millions of U.S. Homes

DOE's FORGE Initiative awarded $46 million in funding for geothermal projects with potential to power tens of millions of homes in the United States.

www.energy.gov

 

[ABMax24]

An interesting geothermal solution that uses the thermosiphon effect and closed loops to harvest heat.
I've been thinking for years about doing something similar for roadway deicing and summer cooling. It would be more "ground-source" than "geothermal" though, relying on insolation as the heat source.

Big oil invests in Eavor's "holy grail" pump-free geothermal loops

BP and Chevron have led a US$40 million investment round for a Canadian startup that claims to have developed a unique way to extract energy from geothermal heat on demand, using an unpowered looping fluid design that's already prototyped in Alberta.

newatlas.com

We are supposed to have a small geothermal plant (5MW) built an hour south of us, it will be a trial plant for the region. Our major issue is the low temperature of our resources, it doesn't make a very effective steam based plant, so I believe this setup was going to use the organic Rankine cycle.

What would be a huge win for us is the leftover waste heat, and this project proposes to use that for industrial heating.

Alberta geothermal power plant one step closer to becoming a reality

Terrapin Geothermics granted government permit for geothermal testing. The first Alberta geothermal power plant project launched by Canadian development company

www.hydrogenfuelnews.com

 

[Rxwoman1961]

This is a little off the subject of power production, but there's a guy out in Western Nebraska who raises citrus trees in green houses he heats just using warmed air from the ground and a couple fans.

Visit a Nebraska greenhouse that grows lemons and oranges

netnebraska.org

 

[peakbagger]

We are supposed to have a small geothermal plant (5MW) built an hour south of us, it will be a trial plant for the region. Our major issue is the low temperature of our resources, it doesn't make a very effective steam based plant, so I believe this setup was going to use the organic Rankine cycle.

What would be a huge win for us is the leftover waste heat, and this project proposes to use that for industrial heating.

Alberta geothermal power plant one step closer to becoming a reality

Terrapin Geothermics granted government permit for geothermal testing. The first Alberta geothermal power plant project launched by Canadian development company

www.hydrogenfuelnews.com

There was a firm that bet big on low temp geothermal use ORC out in the western US and failed miserably. They didnt spend to the time tot. characterize the resource and install a field of units before they realized that the resource wasnt as good as they thought. My old employer spent a lot of time working with them. https://www.energy.gov/eere/geother...erway-first-geothermal-power-plant-new-mexico It burned through a lot of goverment funds before going bellyup.

A resort in AK got a lot of grants to but in a ORC geothermal power plant in the 2005 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chena_Hot_Springs,_Alaska Pratt and Whitney was developing the equipment and used this place as early commercial installation. I think they sold the tech to Mitsubishi who was partnered with Turboden and Italian firm that does ORC.