4 ms·

Oil companies sell finite fuel for energy to people in cars, on the move. Geothermal heating provides unlimited fuel for people in houses, staying still. The

Oil companies sell finite fuel for energy to people in cars, on the move. Geothermal heating provides unlimited fuel for people in houses, staying still. The technology is similar, and it's boring ;-) The market is different. This is an opportunity for entrepreneurs to hire expert drilling engineers out of the oil industry!

ijidak 5y ago
> Geothermal heating provides unlimited fuel for people in houses, staying still This sounds like the beginning of a great sci-fi novel. A future where Earth's core has cooled because of excess draws to power humanity. Now, the planet is losing it's magnetic field. To save humanity, humans need to re-heat the core, build biospheres, or leave the planet.
- blibble 5y ago
  sounds similar to the plot of The Core (it was not great)
  - kbenson 5y ago
    It's surprising how often that movie comes up, especially given how it's often accompanied by a note that it's not good. I suspect it's hit a pseudo-cult classic film status. The last few times I've seen it mentioned I've had the desire to seek it out and watch it again since I only remember bits and pieces.
    - marcosdumay 5y ago
      That's what you get when you do a lot of publicity for a movie that is not good.
- pmoriarty 5y ago
  "A future where Earth's core has cooled because of excess draws to power humanity." Has anyone done the napkin math for how long that would take?
  - marcosdumay 5y ago
    We basically can not accelerate the process. Almost all the resistance to heat movement is on layers we can not reach at all.
  - peterburkimsher 5y ago
    About as long as it would take to cool the surface of the sun. https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2013/04/28/the-center-of-the-earth-may-be-hotter-than-the-suns-surface/?sh=29ad0ff628e9 https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2013/04/28/the-center... Core of earth: 6,000 ºC https://www.space.com/why-sun-atmosphere-hotter-than-surface https://www.space.com/why-sun-atmosphere-hotter-than-surface Core of sun: 27 million ºC Surface of sun: 6,000 ºC "The leading idea among experts is the sun's magnetic field is actually bringing energy from inside the sun up through its surface and into its atmosphere." The "napkin math" will involve gathering some data about RF power harvesting, and some assumptions (e.g. cosmic rays) https://news.mit.edu/2020/energy-harvesting-wi-fi-power-0327 https://news.mit.edu/2020/energy-harvesting-wi-fi-power-0327 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_law_of_thermodynamics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_law_of_thermodynamics Do you believe in the 1st law of thermodynamics, that energy is neither created nor destroyed? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-electron_universe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-electron_universe We could just balance the system: core of Earth too hot -> use geothermal core of Earth too cold -> use solar power
- peterburkimsher 5y ago
  Do you think that reheating the core of Mars could reboot life there? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30476002 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30476002 It's even more interesting that you mention the magnetic field, could we use solar panels to draw more energy from the sun to power a tesla coil and microwave the core?

ijidak 5y ago

> Geothermal heating provides unlimited fuel for people in houses, staying still This sounds like the beginning of a great sci-fi novel. A future where Earth's core has cooled because of excess draws to power humanity. Now, the planet is losing it's magnetic field. To save humanity, humans need to re-heat the core, build biospheres, or leave the planet.

blibble 5y ago
sounds similar to the plot of The Core (it was not great)
- kbenson 5y ago
  It's surprising how often that movie comes up, especially given how it's often accompanied by a note that it's not good. I suspect it's hit a pseudo-cult classic film status. The last few times I've seen it mentioned I've had the desire to seek it out and watch it again since I only remember bits and pieces.
  - marcosdumay 5y ago
    That's what you get when you do a lot of publicity for a movie that is not good.
pmoriarty 5y ago
"A future where Earth's core has cooled because of excess draws to power humanity." Has anyone done the napkin math for how long that would take?
- marcosdumay 5y ago
  We basically can not accelerate the process. Almost all the resistance to heat movement is on layers we can not reach at all.
- peterburkimsher 5y ago
  About as long as it would take to cool the surface of the sun. https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2013/04/28/the-center-of-the-earth-may-be-hotter-than-the-suns-surface/?sh=29ad0ff628e9 https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2013/04/28/the-center... Core of earth: 6,000 ºC https://www.space.com/why-sun-atmosphere-hotter-than-surface https://www.space.com/why-sun-atmosphere-hotter-than-surface Core of sun: 27 million ºC Surface of sun: 6,000 ºC "The leading idea among experts is the sun's magnetic field is actually bringing energy from inside the sun up through its surface and into its atmosphere." The "napkin math" will involve gathering some data about RF power harvesting, and some assumptions (e.g. cosmic rays) https://news.mit.edu/2020/energy-harvesting-wi-fi-power-0327 https://news.mit.edu/2020/energy-harvesting-wi-fi-power-0327 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_law_of_thermodynamics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_law_of_thermodynamics Do you believe in the 1st law of thermodynamics, that energy is neither created nor destroyed? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-electron_universe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-electron_universe We could just balance the system: core of Earth too hot -> use geothermal core of Earth too cold -> use solar power
peterburkimsher 5y ago
Do you think that reheating the core of Mars could reboot life there? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30476002 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30476002 It's even more interesting that you mention the magnetic field, could we use solar panels to draw more energy from the sun to power a tesla coil and microwave the core?