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Geothermal- Why would this be a bad idea?


0bserver

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12 hours ago, The Bastard said:

Putting 2112's depressed cries-for-help aside, it would be worth investigating. It's still at a comparatively early stage in development, but the technology is being tried in Cornwall (the United Downs project near Redruth) and in Germany and Scandinavia, which aren't generally known for volcanism. There are some new drilling technologies based on lasers which make the deep borehole-drilling process easier, which makes it a much more practical proposition than it was. I'm not sure if modern geothermal plants need constant redrilling - most modern plants use boreholes of such depth that the volume of water used doesn't cool the rocks significantly. The IOM has the right geology in places - the Cornish project is focusing on Granite, and the geological Manx group is intruded by Granite, notably the Foxdale Granite and the Poortown Gabbro. I think it's still developing as a technology, but medium to long term, it could be a significant source of energy. Not a cheap project to set up, but done right, it could have real self-sufficiency potential for a small island like ours. 

The best placed companies to do this are oil companies. Their expertise and development in and of drilling techniques are not what they were even 10 years ago. Developing the technology is something that we should be encouraging.

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7 minutes ago, 0bserver said:

I'm still not clear why wind is any more viable than geothermal for the island.

Is it just because Professor Currant Bun put wind in his little climate report?

Because it is always windy?

Just look out to sea. There wouldn't be thousands of wind turbines out there if they didn't work.

Look into power generating geothermal plants and where they are located.

It is not difficult to figure out the answer.

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2 hours ago, 0bserver said:

I'm still not clear why wind is any more viable than geothermal for the island.

Is it just because Professor Currant Bun put wind in his little climate report?

Wind - It cheap. Its proven. It's simple. Its low risk.

Geothermal - it's expensive. it's not proven. Its complex. Its risky

To generate electricity from a wind turbine is dead simple. It's a direct driven motor which generates electricity by its design.

To generate electricity from geothermal energy would require an extra step, most likely steam turbines. You would have to pump water deep underground and return it as superheated steam. You also have to question of its truly renewable. What if all the world started doing it. Is there a chance we could cool the earth's core prematurely.

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3 hours ago, Happier diner said:

Wind - It cheap. Its proven. It's simple. Its low risk.

Geothermal - it's expensive. it's not proven. Its complex. Its risky

To generate electricity from a wind turbine is dead simple. It's a direct driven motor which generates electricity by its design.

To generate electricity from geothermal energy would require an extra step, most likely steam turbines. You would have to pump water deep underground and return it as superheated steam. You also have to question of its truly renewable. What if all the world started doing it. Is there a chance we could cool the earth's core prematurely.

When will the UK wind farms start paying back the subsidies they received from UKG in the form of rebates to the end users? Only when that happens will it be cheaper for the end user.

And, some of the early turbines that were erected are now starting to show signs of wear/cracking and need replacing. So they're not as sustainable as some might think.

Edited by Andy Onchan
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16 minutes ago, Markduc said:

Wind turbines only produce electricity 30% of the time they are operational 

as California are finding out and why Germany are reverting to coal 

they are so good even the uk had to fire up a coal fired station last year 

We do not share our climate with california 

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