3 ms·

Geothermal isn't really sustainable (in the long, long term). The heat is built up due to some special geology, think an insulating blanket. Once you use this

Geothermal isn't really sustainable (in the long, long term). The heat is built up due to some special geology, think an insulating blanket. Once you use this heat to make electricity you lower the temperature of the rock and it takes a very, very long time to warm up again.

stareatgoats 8y ago
It is sustainable enough under any reasonable scenario, and will in effect mainly just harness some of the heat that already dissipates. As for for rewarming the rock: if the strata that were porous and water filled were found at the appropriate levels this problem would be reduced. One would not need to hydro-shear the rock is normal in EGS plants nowadays (with some inconvenient side-effects - see Basel)[0] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhanced_geothermal_system https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhanced_geothermal_system