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Deep geothermal has very little to do with punching a hole in the ground and a lot more to do with the physics and chemistry problem of finding long life materi
by Ken_At_EM 4y ago
Deep geothermal has very little to do with punching a hole in the ground and a lot more to do with the physics and chemistry problem of finding long life materials to use in the production equipment to make power extraction economical.
- tgflynn 4y agoI was under the impression that drilling multi-km deep wells was still a very expensive proposition. Why would materials be a problem ? I wouldn't think the physical conditions would be more extreme than in, for example, a nuclear reactor.
- Ken_At_EM 4y agoDisclaimer: I’m not a materials scientist researching this problem. My understanding is that the production casing doesn’t last quite as long as you’d want it to for long term electricity or heat generation and is a bigger cost consideration than the drilling. Yes, drilling is still ridiculously expensive. The drilling rigs and equipment for geothermal likely run $300,000 per day of drilling, with it taking months to get anything done.