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> For context, to provide the electricity demand for kansas would require about 35% of the total geothermal flux into kansas. New Jersey's electricity demand is
by yayr 4y ago
> For context, to provide the electricity demand for kansas would require about 35% of the total geothermal flux into kansas. New Jersey's electricity demand is 7 times higher than what its geothermal heat flux could provide. For the whole US, electricity consumption is about 75% of geothermal heat flux if you ignore variations like the yellowstone hotspot.
It would be great if you can provide a bit more details on those assumptions. Thanks
- jjk166 4y ago(Electric energy use per year * 1 year) / (Area * 100 mW/m^2 * 60% thermal to electric conversion efficiency) In reality electricity capacity needs to meet peak demand, not average demand, the heat flux in continental crust is more like 65 mW/m^2, and the thermal to electric conversion efficiency is going to be closer to 40%, so the situation is actually much worse for geothermal, but maybe with the right technological developments and implementation you could get better performance.