4 ms·

Why can’t we use enhanced geothermal at these sites?

• ineedasername 5y ago
  EGS also required highly specific geological conditions, so each site would have to be evaluated for suitability. That's not an argument against considering it, but it does mean that EGS isn't a drop-in replacement for every site. For those where it would work? Sure, let's do it.
• ncmncm 5y ago
  EGS is a technology related to fracking. It gets a boost from the maturity of fracking itself, but it is also expensive, kind of risky financially -- an expensive hole might need to be abandoned -- and depends on geological details of the site to determine its suitability. The newer technology, what amounts to drilling by vaporizing rock with microwaves, enables drilling to much greater depths quickly and cheaply. Being new, it has not actually been used yet, but once mature should be less dependent on local geology, and not generate (sometimes reasonable) fears of causing damaging earthquakes, and should yield more power from a single borehole than EGS gets from two more costly holes. But there seems to be no prospect of commercial deployment before 2028, and something could go wrong on the way, delaying or even deep-sixing it. EGS, even where it works best, is more costly than solar and wind. Working independently of weather gives it a leg up, but money for it is less available than for those, for now, because we haven't enough of those yet.
  • parkingrift 5y ago
    Is there a reason we can't use abandoned fracking sites? There are thousands of them.
    • ncmncm 4y ago
      You need two holes. Most have just one. And, they are drilled too shallowly. They need to be deeper.