Could Deep Geothermal be the Workhorse of the Energy Transition
January 22, 2023
More and more smart people dropping the word “geothermal” as a potential energy dark horse. With small nuclear kind of stumbling right now, I’m thinking that might be right.
Below, nice explainer of various Geothermal ideas from yet another startup, Eavor, which has its own unique design.
Climate Denial Crock of the Week 
January 22, 2023 at 3:22 pm
My lack of scientific knowledge in this process conjures images of a swiss cheese mantel servicing the heating and cooling needs of billions……
Like the vastness of the ocean; the fertile soil and abundant resources of the “new world’; the atmosphere — the potential is limitless.
January 22, 2023 at 4:37 pm
For remote areas, geothermal seems to be the biggest winner in the high latitudes away from the windy areas, which is why I expected the solution to Amber Alaska’s energy (from another post) to be geothermal instead of biomass. (Of course the depth of the rock that’s hot enough is a major variable.)
If small modular nukes ever got real, and weren’t too expensive for remote areas, that would work, too.
January 22, 2023 at 4:25 pm
It’s important to remember that videos made by companies like Quaise are essentially marketing for investors. Geothermal’s utility varies by what is cost-effective locally. How deep do you have to drill to achieve your goal? What is capital (siting, drilling and lining the hole) and what is maintenance? How far are you transmitting the energy? What is the local demand? Is it cheaper to dig a very deep hole to put a power plant close to the grid or stick to shallower heat* and run transmission lines. How screwed up is the local government?
There’s an interesting project in Iceland trying to drill a stable heat well 4km (ironically they hit a magma chamber at ~2km on their first attempt).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iceland_Deep_Drilling_Project
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*Active volcanic areas are most obvious, but there are spots where there are magma chambers relatively close to the surface.