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Quaise Energy – Unlocking the true power of clean geothermal energy

quaise.energy

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Re: Quaise Energy – Unlocking the true power of clean geothermal energy

#11

Post by phs318u »

Assuming the millimeter wave drilling technology does in fact hold up (I imagine it draws a LOT of power), the re-use of existing infrastructure (drill a hole at every power station site that boils water to drive a turbine, with existing transmission in place), is brilliant because that's a huge, huge cost avoided - and indeed could be stood up in far less time (barring government approvals) than most mega-scale alternatives.

Full steam ahead!

EDIT: tbh I did also think that this concept sounds like the opening plot for a b-grade disaster movie - "The Day The Earth Cracked Open".

Re: Quaise Energy – Unlocking the true power of clean geothermal energy

#12

Post by arnihermann »

There has been some effort on going to really deep depths in IDDP (Icelandic Deep Drilling Project) - see https://iddp.is/about/

If I remember correctly, they were never able to hit their goals because of drilling down into magma chambers. The steam coming up was also of a different scale than regular geothermal steam, causing corrosion that has not been dealt with before.

As far as I know, the main problem is coming up with casing materials that can withstand the extreme corrosive environment at scale and at cost, and for IDDP that's one of the main focuses.

Re: Quaise Energy – Unlocking the true power of clean geothermal energy

#13

Post by makerdiety »

trophycase wrote: post #8
asimpletune wrote: post #5

Stupid question but is it possible to cool the earth’s core if this tech was scaled out and used massively?

The short answer is no, the long answer is no, but the really long answer is that everybody pretends that it's 100% safe but I guarantee nobody predicted global warming occurring when fossil fuels first started being used. There will be secondary effects, we just don't know what they are yet

No one can predict anything when they don't have access to the larger model. Assuming the real world corresponds to big models rather than the small models and understanding people usually have.

Re: Quaise Energy – Unlocking the true power of clean geothermal energy

#14

Post by mcculley »

GlenTheMachine wrote: post #9
mcculley wrote: post #2

I don’t know how to reason on the magnitudes and indirect effects here. If we are using the temperature differential, don’t we have to vent that into the atmosphere? Does that heat eventually go into the atmosphere anyway?

Any use of energy eventually results in heat; that’s just the Second Law of Thermodynamics in operation. But this effect is orders of magnitude smaller than the greenhouse effect.

I am aware of the 2nd law. I am looking for data on the magnitudes involved. Every time there is a promise of very cheap energy, I wonder how we will deal with the waste heat.

Re: Quaise Energy – Unlocking the true power of clean geothermal energy

#15

Post by throwawayboise »

mcculley wrote: post #14
GlenTheMachine wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any use of energy eventually results in heat; that’s just the Second Law of Thermodynamics in operation. But this effect is orders of magnitude smaller than the greenhouse effect.

I am aware of the 2nd law. I am looking for data on the magnitudes involved. Every time there is a promise of very cheap energy, I wonder how we will deal with the waste heat.

The waste heat will be radiated away to space. The premise of global warming is that CO2 (and other "greenhouse" gasses such as methane) cause more of the heat to be retained in the atmosphere.

Re: Quaise Energy – Unlocking the true power of clean geothermal energy

#16

Post by pfdietz »

phs318u wrote: post #11

Assuming the millimeter wave drilling technology does in fact hold up (I imagine it draws a LOT of power), the re-use of existing infrastructure (drill a hole at every power station site that boils water to drive a turbine, with existing transmission in place), is brilliant because that's a huge, huge cost avoided - and indeed could be stood up in far less time (barring government approvals) than most mega-scale alte…

A concern I have with the mm-wave scheme is material agglomerating onto the drilling shaft, causing clogs or even causing it to get stuck.

Re: Quaise Energy – Unlocking the true power of clean geothermal energy

#18

Post by worik »

trophycase wrote: post #8
asimpletune wrote: post #5

Stupid question but is it possible to cool the earth’s core if this tech was scaled out and used massively?

The short answer is no, the long answer is no, but the really long answer is that everybody pretends that it's 100% safe but I guarantee nobody predicted global warming occurring when fossil fuels first started being used. There will be secondary effects, we just don't know what they are yet

Global warming was proposed in the early 19th century. A wee bit after fossil fuels started to be used, but still a long time ago.

The present trumps the future. The past kicks us in the arse

Re: Quaise Energy – Unlocking the true power of clean geothermal energy

#19

Post by worik »

What an inadequate website for such bold claims.

Here in New Zealand we found that geothermal is not "non polluting". There are a lot of unforeseen consequences with bringing deep water to the surface.

Still much better than nuclear that makes our children pay for current consumption or coal that means we are paying for our ancestors consumption....

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