Anyway, I’d like to see the EROEI for this scheme. Certainly I’d like to see something in a distributed system where more individual single-family (or multi-family) are heated by pipes below the surface on the property, which I suspect has savings in distribution cost avoidance.

—–

BTW, after reading the comment above, I now believe the kim bot’s function is merely to spam comments, and the response output parameter keys on words repeated in the original post.

Right, kim bot programmer?

Best,

D

Some fields can lose their heat over time
Most fields bring up H2S and sometimes mercury
Many smell up the region (see H2S) and are quite noisy
Disposal of waterwater can be a problem
If located in natural areas, the plants and powerlines can disrupt wildlife populations
Some plants have caused increased seismic activity in the local area

Nevertheless, if located in the right place and built well, they can be a low CO2 emitting energy source.

Jim Eaton, have you ever had sex with out a prophylactic, rode a bike without a helmet, or jumped off the high diving board? I hope you are practicing ZPG.

I can’t believe my eyes, Joe Romm posted an alternative power source that actually works in the dark, without wind. Surely something this business friendly is anti-Green.

Dano, learning curve still flat? Iceland has generations of real world experience, the granola land, California has actual Profitable Geothermal plants

According to the Geothermal Energy Association, a geothermal plant has a 30-year lifetime.

http://www.geo-energy.org/aboutGE/employment.asp

What I was pointing out was that all energy sources, including those considered green, have environmental impacts. Unless you are concerned only about human beings, and not the other million of species we share this planet with, we must not forget this when looking at energy production.

Would I rather see 10 new geothermal plants than one new coal plant? Absolutely! But where they are sited is critical.

I also support solar power, but I far prefer covering rooftops with collectors (like my neighbors and I have done) to ripping up vast areas of our deserts (which are living ecosystems, not wastelands).

Yes, desperate measures are needed to stop and reduce the CO2 our society is producing. But we must not destroy the planet in order to save it.

If you think geothermal is such a hot idea, then put your money where your is, and startup “Joe’s Geothermal Inc!.

I really get annoyed when you PR flaks try to second guess the engineers. If they thought geothermal was technically and economically viably, then plants would have already been built.

Somehow I think Warren Buffet knows a tad more about making money than “the engineers” you apparently think run the world.

It’s amazing logic to say any plant that hasn’t yet been built never will be built. I guess a PR flak like me wouldn’t understand.

Pffft.

They aren’t built YET because cheap fossil fool is easier. Let us wait ten or fifteen years when the supply is less and externalites more, then reflect on the statements of Harold for his lack of vision. Oh, wait: I think Harold is an injuneer. Never mind.

Best,

D

If we were to follow the mantra “…if it were so great … or if it were possible … or if it were profitable … someone would have done it already” to it’s logical conclusion, then we’d still be hurling sharpened sticks at elephants.

And for the record, engineers are not the most innovative folks on the block … great at building stuff others conceive of, not so great at the conceiving part.

So go sell your worn out Ayan Rand fantasies somewhere else. We’re all full up here. Besides, we know better.

Oh, and many of you seem to think geothermal applies only to areas where superheated water is present — places like Iceland and the thermal areas of California. There is also a great deal of potential capacity in hot-dry-rock geothermal, which takes advantage of the geothermal gradient and fracking technology to create steam. As the MIT report noted, there is a great deal of potential for HDR geothermal systems. And Jim, with HDR systems, you don’t get the sulfur and trace metal pollution.

I believe if we can drill 10,000 to 15,000 feet offshore for oil, transport it, refine it, and make a profit, we can drill on shore to 15,000 feet and generate electricity on-site profitably.

One of the things we desperately need in a national carbon-free electricity grid is base power — HDR and conventional geothermal energy are one of the better candidates.

With a concerted effort to develop CSP and HDR/conventional geothermal, I think we could get between 4-6 wedges of cost-effective no/low carbon base load electricity simply by tweaking currently available technologies.

All we need is national leadership and the right policies.

Geothermal Induced Earthquake References
http://www.nyx.net/~dcypser/induceq/gis.html

Fractal clustering of induced seismicity in The Geysers geothermal area, California
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/ doi/ abs/ 10.1046/ j.1365-246x.1999.00939.x?cookieSet=1&journalCode=gji

Geysers geothermal field in California
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/ geothermal/ geopower_landuse.html

Man-made tremor shakes Basel
http://www.swissinfo.ch/ eng/ front/ detail/ Man_made_tremor_shakes_Basel.html?siteSect=105&sid=7334248&cKey=1165839658000

Geothermal Power Plant Triggers Earthquake in Switzerland
http://www.treehugger.com/ files/ 2007/ 01/ geothermal_powe.php

Debating the issues is wonderful, and researching them so we don’t have leave everything to the engineers is even better.

The Geothermal Education Office has a wonderful slide show education about geothermal resources and the Geothermal Energy Association and the Canadian Geothermal Energy Association also have a great deal of information about this amazing renewable energy resource. (including news and upcoming events.)

Why does the whole world understand wind and solar, and yet geothermal is talked about so little? It likely hasn’t already been done, due to low cost electricity (3 cent/kw for dirty coal), high upfront capital costs and potential drilling risk!

Sorry about that, 99! What I meant to say was that there would be a great many of these plants already built and running. Hasn’t happened and it won’t ever happen.

John says:

“And for the record, engineers are not the most innovative folks on the block … great at building stuff others conceive of, not so great”

Oh Really? You say that to the engineers at Boeing, and they would cut you up into little pieces and feed you to Herschel the Sea Lion, the Scourge of Ballard Locks! Herschel prefers steelhead, but he’ll eat just anything he find in the water.

GO: http://www.westport.com and learn all about the clean diesel technology the engineers have developed.

Enough of this nonsense! I have to do more calculations to confirm my discovery of the Pierce Pacific Oscillation. This and the PDO are have shifted into a cool phase, which could last for about 60 or more years.
As I mentioned to Richard over at DeSmogBlog, better stock up on earmuffs and wool socks.

Blasting in a mine causes “quakes”. Neo- Luddites have no shame.

It is likely that the injection of fluids in the fault zone will actually lower the average max energy of the quakes as the liquid ‘lubes’ the interface.
What was the quake history ante Geo-thermal? No damage yet in Basel. The earlier a fault releases the safer/cheaper for all. Unless one has no skin/kids in the future to worry about.

Tree-hugger.com, is that an actual non-parody site? half baked repeat of previous post. The town averages 3- 4 earthquakes a year of greater magnitude. I’m sure there are a couple of Proto-Luddites still living in a cave out there,

I concede partially- I don’t consider a 3.0 tremor as a quake, and I didn’t know that geothermal power could be used to reduce the magnitudes of future quakes– they should charge for the service.

Joe. What is the increase in ocean vapor pressure with a one degree at the surface increase? In other words your 10 to 15 degree jump is impossible. Rain forest extending to the continental divide? Is there any Geological records approaching this? I know you have literally bet your career and financial future on a faulty meme. the continuing of a larceny to defraud the public out of public monies could result in a long term incarceration.

References?

Ask a climatologist how even a 5 degree warming in ocean currents that are around zero degrees now would be effected then.
if air temps have taken 150 years to increase ~1 degree, how long will it take to heat the oceans at ~15000 times the mass? this neglects the energy sucked up by the melting of the ice required in the fantasy scenario of + 10 degrees climate change in Ninety-two years.(~1 degree C/decade)
Even the increase in water surface area will act as a further brake on temp increases.
Just the black body radiation increase as temps rise to 298 degrees Kelvin from 288 K are immense.
But my heat bill would be halved.

However, water vapor is a positive feedback. As the air warms, the absolute humidity goes up while the relative humidity stays about constant for obvious reasons.

http://tamino.wordpress.com/

We can take further discussion there and remain ‘on topic’.