71–80 of 108 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Right now wind is running at 16% capacity producing 6GW; you'd need ~308GW capacity to cover Texas needs from wind alone. Good luck.
That is why there is also solar
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Apparently it could actually be beneficial to cool Yellowstone and prevent it from becoming active again.
I tried to search before asking, but only found the contrary. [0] How does this work? [0] https://www.usgs.gov/observatories/yvo/news/why-cant-we-dril...
Could We Stop Yellowstone From Erupting with a Giant Geothermal Power Plant? - https://www.construction-physics.com/p/could-we-stop-yellows...
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35703906 213 points | 8 months ago | 174 comments
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38596622 141 points | 23 days ago | 137 comments
Make 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.
Yeah. We'd do 3"-6" wells at 450ft for hvac geo and it'd be 10%-30% of the project cost. I don't believe drilling has gotten cheaper in my lifetime.
While drilling is definitely a big chunk, all of it is so much more expensive than traditional air heat pumps that even without drilling it would still be at least 50% more expensive. Double without US Federal incentives.
I 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….
Ideal thermodynamic efficiency is 1-Tcold/Thot in an absolute temperature scale. This means given a perfect mechanism to turn heat into work this is the upper bound of how much of the heat can be turned into useful work. Say ambient air is 20 deg C, with your 90 deg C heat source then you get 1-293/363 which is about 20%. So it's not to say you can't get work out of this system, but it's not great compared to having…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
Batteries don't compete for long term storage. Losses are too high. Hydrogen is an excellent solution for longer term (weeks to months to years) storage.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
For week long storage there is always hydrogen, if alternative battery chemistries don’t pan out.
Hydrogen conversion is not only very inefficient, the hydrogen plants are also extremely costly. Batteries are better bet.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Hydrogen conversion is not only very inefficient, the hydrogen plants are also extremely costly. Batteries are better bet.
Only for short term storage. Hydrogen is meant for longer term storage where batteries have too high of a losses. E.g. winter vs summer.
>If prices come down, and if it can be deployed widely enough Drilling deep holes is expensive, prices are unlikely to come down much. Steam generators are expensive too.
Why is the cost of drilling so high? I'm sure the rigs are an expensive capital outlay, but do the operators require advanced skills? Once a hole is drilled, does it have a limited lifespan, or is that investment something that can be hypothetically used for eternity?
You also need materials to ensure that the well doesn't collapse on itself, and stuff like that as well. I would expect the hole itself should have an extremely long lifespan, but I don't really have much to back it up.
Its not for electric generation, but for Geo HVAC the ground loop itself has a 50 year warranty and quoted 150+ year lifespan. The house will probably be long gone before the loop would go bad.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.