Kudos to the rare American article that puts metric units first! (e.g. "seven kilometers (four miles)", "150 °C")
Might be their style, or could it be because geothermal is thriving and evolving in places using metric and rounding is problematic?
What it will take to unleash the potential of geothermal power? (2021)
51–60 of 108 posts
Re: What it will take to unleash the potential of geothermal power? (2021)
#52Earlier quoted context omitted.
For shallow dirt holes, sure. Not so great once the pressure increases or granite|schist layer intercede.
I've been thinking one could add a water powered bit on the tip not unlike the tips they have on more traditional drill rigs. I think there is lots of room for improvement on this technique, lots of white space between this and a traditional rig.
For the purposes talked about in the linked article they're not really looking for new tech that lies between a traditional mining drill and a garden hose though - they're looking beyond the capabilities of traditional mining drill:
Commercial drilling doesn’t usually go much deeper than seven kilometers (four miles)—for cost reasons, it’s often even less than that—and many places that might benefit from geothermal aren’t hot enough at that depth to reach the 150 °C needed to generate electricity economically.
Reaching sufficient temperatures may mean going deeper, which would require new techniques and technologies that can withstand high heat and pressure.Re: What it will take to unleash the potential of geothermal power? (2021)
#53I used to worry that might cool down the earth’s interior too quickly and regret it with mass geothermal. But waste heat ( not global warming from carbon, which is a separate and more pressing problem) will boil the oceans in a few hundred years on our current trajectory, and now I’m for cooling as much as possible however we can.
Wow. Have you got a source for that? Waste heat from human power generation and use, not from the Earth cooling? Boil as in bubbles of steam or just slightly evaporate a little? A few hundred as in < 1000 years? And current trajectory as in something like exponential growth which obviously won't happen? I'm sure some part of that makes the idea far less serious than it sounds.
It’s based on extrapolation of current trends, so I doubt it’ll actually happen. Besides, we’d all die before it got to that. But here are some sources that describe it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vRtA7STvH4 (commentary from Sabrine Hossenfelder, highly recommended)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41567-022-01652-6.epdf
https://dothemath.ucsd.edu/2011/07/can-economic-growth-last/
Re: What it will take to unleash the potential of geothermal power? (2021)
#54Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've been thinking one could add a water powered bit on the tip not unlike the tips they have on more traditional drill rigs. I think there is lots of room for improvement on this technique, lots of white space between this and a traditional rig.
For the purposes talked about in the linked article they're not really looking for new tech that lies between a traditional mining drill and a garden hose though - they're looking beyond the capabilities of traditional mining drill: Commercial drilling doesn’t usually go much deeper than seven kilometers (four miles)—for cost reasons, it’s often even less than that—and many places that might benefit from geothermal a…
Yeah, I'm not bounding my thinking, and future plans, by this article.
I was just mentioning that something I've been thinking of was similar.
Re: What it will take to unleash the potential of geothermal power? (2021)
#55Make drilling cheaper. This would also help with water access. The biggest cost of small geothermal and water projects is always the drilling. Drill rig time is always a limiting factor.
I was hopeful that all of the unused drilling capacity after the shale boom/bust would allow some of the know how and equipment to be reallocated to geothermal but the grid operators and markets are not offering the premium to firm capacity that is required for the longer lead time and increased capital requirements and increased risk in geothermal projects vs wind and solar which can be augmented with battery storag…
For week long storage there is always hydrogen, if alternative battery chemistries don’t pan out.
Re: What it will take to unleash the potential of geothermal power? (2021)
#56> They require more capital investment than solar or wind projects: $3,000 to $6,000 per kilowatt, compared with $1,700 to $2,100 per kilowatt for wind and solar. (However, a geothermal plant will produce between two and four times as much electricity as a wind or solar plant of the same capacity.) Solar/wind: 1.7k - 2.1k / kW → N Geothermal: 3k - 6k / kW → 2N - 4N Looks like an investment no-brainer.
You need to account for cost of operation too
Re: What it will take to unleash the potential of geothermal power? (2021)
#57Make drilling cheaper. This would also help with water access. The biggest cost of small geothermal and water projects is always the drilling. Drill rig time is always a limiting factor.
I was hopeful that all of the unused drilling capacity after the shale boom/bust would allow some of the know how and equipment to be reallocated to geothermal but the grid operators and markets are not offering the premium to firm capacity that is required for the longer lead time and increased capital requirements and increased risk in geothermal projects vs wind and solar which can be augmented with battery storag…
I'm trying to imagine the apocalyptic scenario that'd have all of Texas windless and cloudy for a week? Nameplate values for Texas wind & solar will eventually be well above peak required: excess power can be sold for silly things like bitcoin, desalination, fabbing, etc.
Re: What it will take to unleash the potential of geothermal power? (2021)
#58Does the widespread cooling of the planets interior have any possible consequences?
At a planet scale no, but locally these geothermal plants can have an effect. Some Icelandic geysers for example have weakened or even stopped due to geothermal power plants in the area.
The US NPS has cited this as a reason for not installing geothermal generation near the Yellowstone hotspot. They don’t want to potentially impact Old Faithful.
Re: What it will take to unleash the potential of geothermal power? (2021)
#59I worked on a mining project years ago where we had to dewater the mine of 90 degree Celsius water at 700L/s. Always wondered whether we can use it for energy….
With this perhaps? https://climeon.com/how-it-works/
Re: What it will take to unleash the potential of geothermal power? (2021)
#60Make drilling cheaper. This would also help with water access. The biggest cost of small geothermal and water projects is always the drilling. Drill rig time is always a limiting factor.
I was hopeful that all of the unused drilling capacity after the shale boom/bust would allow some of the know how and equipment to be reallocated to geothermal but the grid operators and markets are not offering the premium to firm capacity that is required for the longer lead time and increased capital requirements and increased risk in geothermal projects vs wind and solar which can be augmented with battery storag…
I wonder if geothermal can offer mild battery storage by using excess energy to pre-heat the water.