FEB 14

Geothermal energy is often overlooked as the "other" renewable energy. Capping geysers to harness their energy is difficult, and the sites where these resources exist are not widespread. But companies are exploring new methods of obtaining energy from geothermal sources by stimulating accessible geologic formations to generate hot water and steam for energy production.

A demonstration project being run by AltaRock Energy is underway in the Deschutes National Forest near Bend, Oregon to explore the viability of this technique. AltaRock is using "hot rocks" and an approach called Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) for energy production. This process uses accessible geological formations which are hot enough to generate steam for power generation, but which are not naturally geysers. The system is meant to be closed-loop, with the water re-cooled and returned through the system, so that there is less impact on local water supply. However, the demonstration will use somewhere between 73 and 142 million gallons of water, so the company is also purchasing Deschutes River Conservancy mitigation credits to offset its water consumption during the project.

The process also calls for developing fracture zones in the rock, which may be too reminiscent of natural gas "fracking" for widespread acceptance of the technique. But, instead of an extraction process, the geothermal approach will be injecting water into the rocks. The proposed system is laid out in more detail on a poster presentation of the core concepts for the test project. According to the company, "EGS has the potential to provide as much as 10 percent of the nation's energy needs within the course of a generation."

via: Science Friday

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It's Not That Bad
written by Ronald Brak, February 16, 2012

Farmer, geothermal energy isn't that bad. Heat from geothermal energy is close to insignificant compared to warming resulting from carbon dioxide released from burning fossil fuels. So if geothermal energy reduces fossil fuel use, then it is very helpful for reducing global warming.

Groundwater isn't radioactive. After all, lava comes out of the ground pretty hot, but it isn't radioactive.

And we are unlikely to use enough geothermal energy to affect continental drift. We would have to extract geothermal energy equal to many times humanity's total energy use just to counter the effects of global warming.

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written by Drilling Equipment Man, February 17, 2012

To be honest, from my perspective at the moment, geothermal is probably the best green energy source. Compared to solar and wind, it isn't weather dependant and doesn't take up nearly as much space. The downfall of course is it can only be employed in some areas and it's quite expensive.

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Geothermal is essential for a long term future
written by Sapoty Brook, February 25, 2012

We need to stabilize the temperature of the atmosphere and ocean by controlling CO2. That's obvious. But we also need to stabilize the temperature of super volcano regions like Yellow Stone NP. Historically a super volcano blows on average every 70,000 years. The last one to blow created Lake Toba in Sumatra. The genetic record indicates that the global human population decreased to 10,000 individuals as a result of the consequent global volcanic winter. We should be generating power by extracting heat from places like Yellow Stone NP. Do it all under ground of course so the park stays pristine.

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