3 ms·
The problem with geothermal power is that it's only feasible in a few areas. California already generates about 5% of its electricity from geothermal power: htt
by Manfredo_1 6y ago
The problem with geothermal power is that it's only feasible in a few areas. California already generates about 5% of its electricity from geothermal power: https://ww2.energy.ca.gov/almanac/renewables_data/geothermal/index_cms.php#:~:text=Due%20to%20its%20location%20on,hours%20(GWh)%20of%20electricity https://ww2.energy.ca.gov/almanac/renewables_data/geothermal....
- moneytide1 6y agoYeah because of the fault line bringing mantle temperature closer. I think they have drilled 3km to tap into this heat, whereas the deepest hole ever dug so far is in Russia at a depth of around 10km (small diameter). Drilling was limited at this distance because of increasing heat. If we could figure out how to drill a large enough hole at those ~43km crust lengths, wouldn't tectonic activity shift shafts out of alignment? Metallurgy, abrasives, and durable gearing are to conventional drills (Howard Hughes Sr) as perhaps focused optics would be to future drilling as depicted in lots of sci fi. Either way - tunneling itself is so much the challenge as would be removing the aggregate. How hilarious would it be to have drilled so far deep vertically to access the mantle that you'd have to use rockets to remove the ore. Space elevator/launch concept also has massive material penalty.