Geothermal Energy

[PhaseThree]

I came across this article today detailing a new take on Geothermal Energy drilling and production from an MIT spin-off.

https://newatlas.com/energy/quaise-deep ... ave-drill/

It would be ironic if the biggest thing to come out of decades of fusion research is a new drilling technique for geothermal. The re-purposing of coal fired power station is also an interesting possibility.

They have just raised $40 million in A-series funding to further develop the idea.
Definitely worth keeping an eye on

Company web page here
https://www.quaise.energy/

[1nvest]

If the earths core is cooled quicker then the planet (mankind) die sooner, without the magma swirling around we lose the magnetic field that protects us ???

[PhaseThree]

If the earths core is cooled quicker then the planet (mankind) die sooner, without the magma swirling around we lose the magnetic field that protects us ???

From the article :-
"Where there's access to heat, there's harvestable geothermal energy. And there's so much heat below the Earth's surface, according to Paul Woskov, a senior fusion research engineer at MIT, that tapping just 0.1 percent of it could supply the entire world's energy needs for more than 20 million years."

I think 20 Million years is a reasonable timescale to look for an alternative solution. We might even have worked out how to get fusion to work by then.

[mc2fool]

Seems Quaise are not the only ones:

"AltaRock Energy is leading an effort to melt and vaporize rocks with millimeter waves. Instead of grinding away with mechanical drills, scientists use a gyrotron — a specialized high-frequency microwave-beam generator — to open holes in slabs of hard rock." https://spectrum.ieee.org/altarock-energy-melts-rock-with-millimeter-waves-for-geothermal-wells

Sounds like The Core.

AltaRock Energy though have an order of magnitude difference on the energy available ... "AltaRock estimates that just 0.1 percent of the planet's heat content could supply humanity's total energy needs for 2 million years." Bah! Only 2 million!

The article goes on to call Quaise "an affiliate of AltaRock" but it's not clear what that means.

And then there's https://www.gadrilling.com/, which uses a different technology but is also going for the same end goal, Geothermal Anywhere.

And also https://www.eavor.com who have a good video explaining the different types of geothermal power and, of course, why theirs is better. https://youtu.be/PtQmGPmyLA0 (12 minutes)

Text & pictures explanation of the Four basic types of geothermal energy technology at https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2020/10/21/21515461/renewable-energy-geothermal-egs-ags-supercritical

Ok, I'm convinced ... will be selling up my wind & solar ITs as soon as a geothermal one launches....

[scotia]

And how about drilling into the magma chamber below a volcano - as has been proposed in Iceland
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iceland-energy-britain-idUSKBN17C17E
And constructing an under water power cable to the UK.

An Iceland-UK power cable to transfer geothermal-generated electricity has been proposed for decades - but never seems to get off the ground.
The following Wiki link suggests that it may be unlikely to happen any time soon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icelink

[PhaseThree]

And how about drilling into the magma chamber below a volcano - as has been proposed in Iceland
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iceland-energy-britain-idUSKBN17C17E
And constructing an under water power cable to the UK.

An Iceland-UK power cable to transfer geothermal-generated electricity has been proposed for decades - but never seems to get off the ground.
The following Wiki link suggests that it may be unlikely to happen any time soon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icelink

That's one of the questions that comes up in this QA session with the CEO of Quaise. Volcanos are typically too far from the places that need the energy and building serious distribution is expensive.

https://newatlas.com/energy/quaise-deep ... questions/

[mc2fool]

And how about drilling into the magma chamber below a volcano - as has been proposed in Iceland
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iceland-energy-britain-idUSKBN17C17E
And constructing an under water power cable to the UK.

An Iceland-UK power cable to transfer geothermal-generated electricity has been proposed for decades - but never seems to get off the ground.
The following Wiki link suggests that it may be unlikely to happen any time soon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icelink

That's one of the questions that comes up in this QA session with the CEO of Quaise. Volcanos are typically too far from the places that need the energy and building serious distribution is expensive.

https://newatlas.com/energy/quaise-deep ... questions/

Some interesting questions in the Q&A ...

"Couldn't you just drill into the side of a volcano instead?
Yes, but most humans do not live near one. This is a solution that can work for 95 percent of humanity.

Isn't that how planet Krypton was destroyed?
No, an explosion destroyed Krypton.

Could this unleash the lizard people that inhabit the inner sphere?
How do we know they did not already drill up using this technology and are already amongst us?

Will you be renting out the megawatt-class energy weapon between projects? One user wants to keep it in the car for when people cut him off on the freeway.
No.

Will this wake up the Kaiju?
No."

[ursaminortaur]

And how about drilling into the magma chamber below a volcano - as has been proposed in Iceland
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iceland-energy-britain-idUSKBN17C17E
And constructing an under water power cable to the UK.

An Iceland-UK power cable to transfer geothermal-generated electricity has been proposed for decades - but never seems to get off the ground.
The following Wiki link suggests that it may be unlikely to happen any time soon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icelink

That's one of the questions that comes up in this QA session with the CEO of Quaise. Volcanos are typically too far from the places that need the energy and building serious distribution is expensive.

https://newatlas.com/energy/quaise-deep ... questions/

Some interesting questions in the Q&A ...

"[i]Couldn't you just drill into the side of a volcano instead?
Yes, but most humans do not live near one. This is a solution that can work for 95 percent of humanity.

There are though pretty big populations close to quite a number of volcanoes as the soil close to them is particularly fertile and has therefore historically attracted farmers to the region which then led to the build up of nearby cities and towns eg Vesuvius.

[PhaseThree]

There are though pretty big populations close to quite a number of volcanoes as the soil close to them is particularly fertile and has therefore historically attracted farmers to the region which then led to the build up of nearby cities and towns eg Vesuvius.

According to Google around 8% of the world population live within a 100km radius of a "recently" active volcano, largely in/on the Ring of Fire. I can see the attraction of drilling local boreholes rather than tapping distant volcanos if the technology makes it cost-effective.

[Gerry557]

Wot appends when....

All this drilling causes the core to cool

Bruce Willis is getting on a bit to be saving our [expletive deleted] yet again.

[GrahamPlatt]

I'd want to see the technology to "cap" a gusher proven first. Drilling into the magma chamber (especially e.g. Yellowstone) sounds a bit hazardous.

[PhaseThree]

Meanwhile and closer to home geothermal drilling in Cornwall causes an "earthquake". (Not sure that a 1.6 magnitude shake actually qualifies as an earthquake).

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... lling.html

[mc2fool]

Meanwhile and closer to home geothermal drilling in Cornwall causes an "earthquake". (Not sure that a 1.6 magnitude shake actually qualifies as an earthquake).

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... lling.html

Hmmm ... this seems to be an Enhanced Geothermal System (EGS), the "fracking" type of geothermal. The project's website is at https://www.edengeothermal.com and there's a 5 minute video on the home page explaining what they're doing.

Their news page contains an item on the reported "earthquake" which starts:

"Felt seismicity – update

UPDATE AT 12:55 ON 1OTH MARCH 2022

The seismic event which occurred at approximately 9.20pm on 9th March was induced by injection testing at Eden Geothermal. These tests have been ongoing since late January and have involved injecting fresh water into the natural fractures near the bottom of the well.

Injection testing induces low level seismic events (microseismicity). Since the start of testing there have been over 300 low level seismic events. However, the event that occurred at 9:20 pm yesterday evening was heard and felt by people in the local community. It was 1.7 Magnitude at a depth of over 3,700 metres.
:
:"

https://www.edengeothermal.com/2022/03/10/felt-seismicity-update/

The item includes a link to a page about "microseismicity" including a video.

[GrahamPlatt]

Their news page contains an item on the reported "earthquake" which starts:

"Felt seismicity – update

"Seismicity"? That's a word now is it?

[mc2fool]

Their news page contains an item on the reported "earthquake" which starts:

"Felt seismicity – update

"Seismicity"? That's a word now is it?

Yes, a new one on me too, but apparently it has been for a long time (not sure why the peak usage in 1984 though ) https://www.google.com/search?q=Seismicity+definition

[jfgw]

I think 20 Million years is a reasonable timescale to look for an alternative solution. We might even have worked out how to get fusion to work by then.

Nah, it will be another 30 years.


Julian F. G. W.