4 ms·
The Staufen im Breisgau mishap is one of the learning experiences of geothermal energy, like analyzing the type of rock that you plan to drill through, and mayb
by stareatgoats 5y ago
The Staufen im Breisgau mishap is one of the learning experiences of geothermal energy, like analyzing the type of rock that you plan to drill through, and maybe not drill in a town center.
But apart from that, you seem to have misinterpreted the Quaise technology, mixing apples and oranges. This is not conventional drilling which can cause water to flow into adjacent rock (not to mention fracking which deliberately cracks the bedrock to allow water to flow through).
This technology is vaporizing the rock and at the same time creating a sealed shaft which funnels the water directly to the great depths where the water can reach supercritical steam state, and so avoiding the issues that caused the Staufen im Breisgau mishap.
- Glawen 5y agoA conventional drill can be cemented as well, the technology is already existing but mishap happened anyway Another town near Strasbourg is devastated like staufen Im breigsbau: Lochwiller. With the same issue as staufen, except that in this case it was a family who drilled to heat their home.
- hackernewds 5y agoare you telling me a family drilled to heat their home and caused earthquake? that sounds absurd
- usrusr 5y agoThe really interesting question might sound even more absurd: did that earthquake release stress that would have been released sooner or (worse:) later anyways? Should people affected by the earthquake thank the family for releasing stress before more accumulate?
- darkerside 5y agoNot absurd. Do you think the same might apply to quakes caused by fracking?
- usrusr 5y agoThat's literally what I've been wondering next. The question marks where genuine, not rhetoric. (I can't claim that this is always the case with my question marks, so I'm in no position to complain if they are not taken at face value)
- darkerside 5y agoSame. Not a rhetorical question. Wildfires are the clear analogue. I wonder if it actually works that way. I would guess not. The size and strength of a massive earthquake is just so hard to understand. That the Richter scale is logarithmic is just incredible. A few small quakes here and there seem unlikely to meaningfully detract from its power.
- derac 5y agoThe straufen issue wasn't an earthquake. A chemical reaction occured when water mixed with an anhydrous layer, causing the ground to swell up to 12 inches per the linked wiki article.