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EGS is a very promising technology. Currently, geothermal energy is better considered hydrothermal energy as hot water in abundance is required to turn the turb
by cossatot 10y ago
EGS is a very promising technology. Currently, geothermal energy is better considered hydrothermal energy as hot water in abundance is required to turn the turbines in generators, or by heating fluids w/ lower boiling points to turn the turbines. However, there are a lot more regions with sufficient heat but insufficient groundwater circulation (because they tend to be in relatively impermeable igneous rock, and often in arid regions) that EGS will unlock if it becomes competitively priced (which it should with more technological refinement).
One of the most advanced test sites is happening now by a joint DOE/University/private collaboration at Newberry Volcano west of Bend, OR http://www.newberrygeothermal.com/ http://www.newberrygeothermal.com/
I think there is a lot of room for investment here. Geothermal is, in general, a relatively safe, secure and environmentally friendly method of power generation (the biggest concerns are in dewatering hot springs, which are beloved if not held sacred by locals). EGS may potentially have some similar wastewater issues as fracking, although not to the same scale both due to smaller volume and the lack of a need for nasty surfactants to get organics to desorb from rock. But it's generally not viewed as a viable large-scale technology in the press or more superficial energy analyses.
- briffle 10y agoA hundred miles south of Newberry is OIT, a state tech school. The whole campus has been heated/cooled by Geothermal for decades (including outside sidewalks) and in the last decade, they built a 2MW geothermal power plant, and 2MW solar plant. They sell excess electricity (and hot water for heating) to the hospital next door. http://www.oit.edu/sustainability/clean-energy http://www.oit.edu/sustainability/clean-energy http://www.oit.edu/orec/geo-heat-center http://www.oit.edu/orec/geo-heat-center
- freehunter 10y agoKind of off-topic from the subject of renewables but on-topic for the subject of what to do with waste heat from power generation: a city near me has a power plant on the shore of Lake Michigan. They draw in water from the lake for steam generation and then have to dispose of the hot water somehow. Instead of dumping it straight back into the lake and disrupting the ecosystem with extra hot water, they run it under the sidewalks in the city. 762 gallons of really hot water runs under the sidewalks of the city every minute, keeping the northern-latitude tourist town ice-free, salt-free, snowplow-free no matter how cold it gets. There are really interesting ways to deal with all kinds of byproduct from industry that are non-obvious. Like heating a hospital with waste heat from a power plant.