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The article raises a few interesting points I didn't know: - In SoCal there are several areas which have geothermal activity and correspondingly several electr

The article raises a few interesting points I didn't know: - In SoCal there are several areas which have geothermal activity and correspondingly several electric plants based on that - This geothermal activity raises both hot water and a fair concentration of a brine solution containing many metals - The lithium isn't mined, they were getting it by processing this brine solution Based on that, and reading many comments that modern batteries also needs lots of Co, Mn, etc... I wonder if the brine water coming up from this area is basically 'battery soup'? Seems like a lot of potential value that is already being pumped out of the ground by someone else - who considers it a waste product!

xchaotic 10y ago
You can get 'geothermal' waters pretty much anywhere in the world, it only depends on how deep you dig (in some cases this is completely unviable from an economic point of view) You can then use the water for heating, extracting minerals, spas, swimming pools etc.
- cjensen 10y ago
  Most places are wildly uneconomic for geothermal. The Great Basin is composed of Horst and Graben [1] (i.e. Mountain ridges separating basins) geology. H&G happens when the Earth's crust is stretched. The stretching also makes the crust much thinner than normal -- that's why there are tons of cider cones and old lava flows in the Great Basin region. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horst_and_graben https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horst_and_graben
  - labster 10y ago
    The Great Basin is usually described in English as basin and range. It's a part of the is a part of the Basin and Range Province.[1] [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basin_and_Range_Province https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basin_and_Range_Province
ci5er 10y ago
Yes, but it is pretty thin soup!
- cmdrfred 10y ago
  Boil it for a while?
  - ci5er 10y ago
    I know (expect?) you are being funny - but one of the things that the eco-people always miss in their end-to-end cost calculation (that they do not do) is the cost of "boiling it for a while". It's like free energy! :-)
    - moron4hire 10y ago
      And a thing non-eco-people (wtf?) seem to miss is that eco-people aren't all the same person.
      - ci5er 10y ago
        You are right. There are more than two. Just like Baptists, they are not all the same...
      - ci5er 10y ago
        Yes, but, like their co-religionists, they seem to hive out and make this same objection! :-)
      - Retric 10y ago
        I am rather low on the eco scale. Pollution including CO2 IMO should be heavily taxed as a negative externality. But, things like land preservation is really just about land use with leaving it alone as one option. Extinction is another meh issue. Make an effort to preserve DNA, but trying to save animals that compete with humans is rarely going to work well. So, recycling for example needs to be a net gain when adjusting for externality's not just a pointless feel good measure. Eco homes are another pointless waste. Want to save the environment live in a condo. Basically, you can do what you want with your land, but don't hurt other peoples air, water, etc. PS: Needless to say, rarely do I find people with similar viewpoints.

xchaotic 10y ago

You can get 'geothermal' waters pretty much anywhere in the world, it only depends on how deep you dig (in some cases this is completely unviable from an economic point of view) You can then use the water for heating, extracting minerals, spas, swimming pools etc.

cjensen 10y ago
Most places are wildly uneconomic for geothermal. The Great Basin is composed of Horst and Graben [1] (i.e. Mountain ridges separating basins) geology. H&G happens when the Earth's crust is stretched. The stretching also makes the crust much thinner than normal -- that's why there are tons of cider cones and old lava flows in the Great Basin region. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horst_and_graben https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horst_and_graben
- labster 10y ago
  The Great Basin is usually described in English as basin and range. It's a part of the is a part of the Basin and Range Province.[1] [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basin_and_Range_Province https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basin_and_Range_Province

ci5er 10y ago

Yes, but it is pretty thin soup!

cmdrfred 10y ago
Boil it for a while?
- ci5er 10y ago
  I know (expect?) you are being funny - but one of the things that the eco-people always miss in their end-to-end cost calculation (that they do not do) is the cost of "boiling it for a while". It's like free energy! :-)
  - moron4hire 10y ago
    And a thing non-eco-people (wtf?) seem to miss is that eco-people aren't all the same person.
    - ci5er 10y ago
      You are right. There are more than two. Just like Baptists, they are not all the same...
    - ci5er 10y ago
      Yes, but, like their co-religionists, they seem to hive out and make this same objection! :-)
    - Retric 10y ago
      I am rather low on the eco scale. Pollution including CO2 IMO should be heavily taxed as a negative externality. But, things like land preservation is really just about land use with leaving it alone as one option. Extinction is another meh issue. Make an effort to preserve DNA, but trying to save animals that compete with humans is rarely going to work well. So, recycling for example needs to be a net gain when adjusting for externality's not just a pointless feel good measure. Eco homes are another pointless waste. Want to save the environment live in a condo. Basically, you can do what you want with your land, but don't hurt other peoples air, water, etc. PS: Needless to say, rarely do I find people with similar viewpoints.