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| -Signs, Portents, and the Weather- |
| New Energy Source Proved in Australia |
| 2008-04-02 |
| A report published last year by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that similar resources in the U.S. alone could generate up to 100,000 MW of power. (Hot Fractured Rock)HFR mines Earth’s heat with wells up to 10 km deep into hot rock, connecting the wells to a fractured-rock region that has been stimulated to let water flow through it. This creates a heat exchanger that can produce large amounts of hot water or steam to run electric generators on the surface. It requires little fuel and emits no carbon dioxide. “This would be a breakthrough if they’re able to produce hot fluid at a sustained production flow rate that exceeds what has been achieved before,” says Tester. |
| Posted by:Bobby |
| #12 CRACK IN THE WORLD [movie]? X-/Ultra-Violet Solar Rays? For some myster reason, I have AUSTIN POWER's "DR.EVIL's" Underground Complex in my head. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2008-04-02 19:53 |
| #11 one 50MW station by 2012 better than nothing but we're pretty far away from a big deal |
| Posted by: mhw 2008-04-02 19:50 |
| #10 Last I heard only a few days ago they were running into drilling problems because of the heat and pressure. The site is approximately in the middle of nowhere. |
| Posted by: Aussie Mike 2008-04-02 17:16 |
| #9 I think the magic word here is 'stimulated'. I recall the Soviets wanted to do this kind of 'stimulation' with underground nuclear explosions. |
| Posted by: Phil_B 2008-04-02 16:44 |
| #8 BP, that was the best laugh I've had all day. Well played, sir (or madam). |
| Posted by: eltoroverde 2008-04-02 15:01 |
| #7 “This would be a breakthrough if they’re able to produce hot fluid at a sustained production flow rate that exceeds what has been achieved before,” I'm sure I saw that text in a spam for V14gr4 |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2008-04-02 14:14 |
| #6 Apparently, the only thing they are taking out is heat. Cooling, if one could measure it, is not likely to have as much subsidence as extraction. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2008-04-02 12:39 |
| #5 hope the environmental impact report covers Graboids |
| Posted by: Frank G 2008-04-02 12:20 |
| #4 Deeper ones likely cause less issues. Like Oil Wells. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2008-04-02 11:23 |
| #3 It occurs to me that it might be a good idea to do these experiments in uninhabited areas, given the possibility of earthquakes and soil subsidence. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2008-04-02 11:19 |
| #2 There's a town in Germany that started sinking after starting up a geothermal project. Walls cracking in lots of buildings, etc. It will be interesting to see how these deeper geothermal projects work out over the long haul. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/03/30/wgreen130.xml |
| Posted by: Darrell 2008-04-02 10:51 |
| #1 But it will cool off the innards of the Earth! Can you hear the enviros screeching? |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2008-04-02 10:31 |