Geothermal electricity

[Animl-AW]

Geothermal electricity is generated using hot water or steam from underground reservoirs to power turbines that produce electricity. The steam or hot water is then reinjected back into the reservoir. Geothermal energy is created by the slow decay of radioactive particles in the earth's core, heating magma in the outer core. Rocks and water absorb heat from the magma, with deeper rocks and water ttreaching the highest temperatures.

Here's how geothermal electricity works:

Drilling: Wells are drilled into the earth to tap into hot water or dry steam wells, which can be up to two miles deep. 

Piping: The steam or hot water is piped to the surface.

Powering turbines: The steam or hot water drives turbines that generate electricity.

Reinjection: After producing electricity, the steam or hot water is often reinjected into the reservoir.

[icepac]

The other half of the equation is that harnessing geothermal energy cools the earth and, if any heat is released on ground level, the atmosphere absorbs the heat.     

So, the earth gets cooled and shrinks.     What happens to the crust that has to bunch up?     

Earth quakes.

[Oldman731]

The other half of the equation is that harnessing geothermal energy cools the earth and, if any heat is released on ground level, the atmosphere absorbs the heat.     

So, the earth gets cooled and shrinks.     What happens to the crust that has to bunch up?     

Earth quakes.

AT THE ASTRONOMY LECTURE:

Lecturer:  We predict that our sun will explode in five billion years, and that all life on this planet will cease.

Woman in the crowd:  *Gasp*  EXCUSE ME, COULD YOU PLEASE SAY THAT AGAIN?  HOW LONG?

Lecturer:  Five billion years.

Woman:  *relaxes into her seat*  Thank God!  I thought you said five MILLION years.


- oldman

[xanax]

AT THE ASTRONOMY LECTURE:

Lecturer:  We predict that our sun will explode in five billion years, and that all life on this planet will cease.

Woman in the crowd:  *Gasp*  EXCUSE ME, COULD YOU PLEASE SAY THAT AGAIN?  HOW LONG?

Lecturer:  Five billion years.

Woman:  *relaxes into her seat*  Thank God!  I thought you said five MILLION years.


- oldman

To be fair, her and her husband just got one of those newer 60 million month auto loans about a year ago on the new Dodge. They want to see that title before the end.

[Animl-AW]

AT THE ASTRONOMY LECTURE:

Lecturer:  We predict that our sun will explode in five billion years, and that all life on this planet will cease.

Woman in the crowd:  *Gasp*  EXCUSE ME, COULD YOU PLEASE SAY THAT AGAIN?  HOW LONG?

Lecturer:  Five billion years.

Woman:  *relaxes into her seat*  Thank God!  I thought you said five MILLION years.


- oldman

It's sad I could believe every word of that, with confidence.

[Eagler]

It's sad I could believe every word of that, with confidence.

Yet some think they can control global climate change with policy lol

Eagler

[icepac]

So I guess they will come up with some way to charge you for cooling the earth.

[Animl-AW]

Yet some think they can control global climate change with policy lol

Eagler

This isn’t political, its science

[CptTrips]

So I guess they will come up with some way to charge you for cooling the earth.

I'm guessing the thermal mass of the planetary body is more than the thermal mass of the atmosphere.

Besides, it's largely a closed system.  If the heat can't escape out into space because of greenhouse effect, it has no choice but to move back to the medium of greater thermal mass.

You're simply cycling the heat around.

[Animl-AW]

From what I understand, take that as you will, some parts of the earth core reaches the same temp as the sun. It's decaying radiation. It didn't start and all you get is what you save in a container. It's going to produce heat until then end.

I understand the radiator effect, but man you would have to do a lot of that to actually cool the earth. Oceans on top at 34- degrees has had no affect, in fact it's having the opposite affect, the water is warming. If it's dissipating heat it's not working enough.

I can bend either way on the issue, because I don't know everything about it. From what we are able to do so far it might only produce 16% of the current electricity draw. so it comes down to is it worth it, as is everything else.

Lets say the radiator effect takes place in doing so, what if the earth was about to burn itself up from the inside out (imagination rocketing right now), then that would be prolonging the inevitable and be good for humans.

Here's one thing I have come to understand, throw any politics into ANYTHING, and consider it ruined.

[Vulcan]

The real problem with geothermal is land stability. Even though it's deep down when you start pumping the water out it has an impact on the land. So it depends where you are taking it from. Also most area good for geothermal are also active volcanic zones, and active earthquake zones.

[Lusche]

The real problem with geothermal is land stability. Even though it's deep down when you start pumping the water out it has an impact on the land.

This is what can happen when a geothermal drilling goes wrong:



I visited this very beautiful town a few years ago. The cracks were everywhere, over 260 buildings (many of them historic one) had been damaged, about half of them heavily. Some had to be demolished.

Turned out that a local geothermal drilling had hit a high pressure groundwater layer, which happened to be under a ~250ft think layer full of anhydrite which started to turn into gypsum... resulting in a volume increase up to 60%.

[Animl-AW]

kinda figured it was too good to be true

[CptTrips]

Nuclear is the way to go.

[Vulcan]

Yeah we've had ground collapses and sinkholes in a couple of places in NZ, relatively shallow geothermal stuff though. Worst thing is that the fissures that open up usually have something nasty in them like very hot or acidic water from the deeper volcanic activity.