Geothermal- Why would this be a bad idea?

[The Bastard]

6 minutes ago, The Phantom said:

Is it?  I must have missed that in my two years of actual Geology lessons. 

You know that Cornwall is pretty much all Granite?  Our Granite is where exactly? 

Not sure if you listened in your "actual" Geology lessons.

Foxdale, Poortown, Dhoon, Scarlett - Foxdale probably the most likely candidate

https://www.manxgeology.com/geological-map/

Notably, Cornwall isn't "all Granite" - http://www.es.ucl.ac.uk/map/SWEngland/geo2.htm

Edited April 25, 2022 by The Bastard

[Andy Onchan]

Whatever, wherever or however the story is that we will require a mix of options (including hydrocarbon) if we are to enjoy the level of uninterrupted power/energy supply we have at the moment. And there's no quick answer. We have to be prepared for the long haul until as such time man's ingenuity & technology finds a truly sustainable method of keeping us warm (yes, we're still going to need heat to survive) and power to keep the lights on (so to speak). 

I say don't rule anything out.

[slinkydevil]

[The Phantom]

20 minutes ago, The Bastard said:

Not sure if you listened in your "actual" Geology lessons.

Foxdale, Poortown, Dhoon, Scarlett - Foxdale probably the most likely candidate

https://www.manxgeology.com/geological-map/

Notably, Cornwall isn't "all Granite" - http://www.es.ucl.ac.uk/map/SWEngland/geo2.htm

Oh yeah, those tiny little specks will solve it. 

We can't get our collective shit together to exploit the proven resources of (probable) gas at Maughold or wind everywhere, let alone some experimental theoretical magic resource.

Actually, this sounds right up our street for Govt. Let's get Daffers onto it.

Absolute pie in the sky for anything major or functional. 

[The Bastard]

3 minutes ago, The Phantom said:

Oh yeah, those tiny little specks will solve it. 

We can't get our collective shit together to exploit the proven resources of (probable) gas at Maughold or wind everywhere, let alone some experimental theoretical magic resource.

Actually, this sounds right up our street for Govt. Let's get Daffers onto it.

Absolute pie in the sky for anything major or functional. 

From your "actual" Geology, you'd know that the "little specks" are the top of huge underlying Granite Batholiths that were exposed by erosion in small areas - just like in Cornwall, so there is some potential there to drill into hot Granite sources. Geothermal is already in use all over the world, so it's not as "theoretical" or "magical" as you'd like to think.

You're right, Gas looks to be available and potentially exploitable around the island, but it's complicated by the usual tradeoff between territorial and environmental concerns whenever you're dealing with a fossil fuel resource. Even getting funding for exploitation would be a minefield of ethical issues, with so many funding sources keen to virtue-signal on environmental issues. 

[The Phantom]

The Phantom, who once watched Peter Pan and was intrigued by Tinkerbell has submitted a new energy plan to the Head Chef at the IOM Govt Pie in the Sky Factory, Daffers Caine. 

The crayon diagram (which is all coloured inside the lines) sets out a series of hamster wheels and dynamos to be installed at Fairy Bridge to exploit the legendary endurance of the Little People.

The fee, being the provision of the first born child of every Manx family to the Phantom has been declared a bargain by High Priestess Daffers. 

[TheTeapot]

3 hours ago, The Bastard said:

Geothermal is already in use all over the world

But where? It would appear that they are pretty much always located where there is a fair bit of activity. California's principal site is located at a place called 'The Geysers' for example. Looks like there are a few dotted around the Pacific Rim of Fire. Italy have a couple, but they also famously have volcanoes. 

Maybe I'm missing something.

[The Phantom]

15 minutes ago, TheTeapot said:

But where? It would appear that they are pretty much always located where there is a fair bit of activity. California's principal site is located at a place called 'The Geysers' for example. Looks like there are a few dotted around the Pacific Rim of Fire. Italy have a couple, but they also famously have volcanoes. 

Maybe I'm missing something.

The Basolith silly!

*not linked to the Harry Potter Basilisk, but the confusion is understandable. 

[The Bastard]

5 hours ago, TheTeapot said:

But where? It would appear that they are pretty much always located where there is a fair bit of activity. California's principal site is located at a place called 'The Geysers' for example. Looks like there are a few dotted around the Pacific Rim of Fire. Italy have a couple, but they also famously have volcanoes. 

Maybe I'm missing something.

You are missing something. You can look to exotic Southampton for an example. Southampton isn't known for its volcanoes, or for its geysers (apart from the ones that sell used cars) and is nowhere near the ring of fire except on curry night. But a small trial well drilled in the early 1980s and subsequently abandoned was picked up in 1986 by the local council with a view to heating the civic centre. It was subsequently expanded and now contributes to the power of 1000 homes, the hospital and university and a business centre via 11 miles of piping. Despite being a small trial well, it generates 40Gwh of heat, 22 Gwh of electricity and 8 Gwh of cooling annually. 

[TheTeapot]

Cool, you learn something every day. https://www.theade.co.uk/case-studies/utility/southampton-district-energy-scheme

It would seem to me that the likely best solution to the problems of our future energy supply lie in a combination of sources, some wind, solar, gas, and yes geothermal, plus both large scale and household storage batteries.

Edited April 26, 2022 by TheTeapot

[Happier diner]

2 hours ago, TheTeapot said:

Cool, you learn something every day. https://www.theade.co.uk/case-studies/utility/southampton-district-energy-scheme

It would seem to me that the likely best solution to the problems of our future energy supply lie in a combination of sources, some wind, solar, gas, and yes geothermal, plus both large scale and household storage batteries.

I agree. However we need to be cautious as there isn't enough money to go around messing around with multiple options. We need a firm decision on a clear strategy and then we need to get on with it. Yes, if the strategy is a combination then that's fair enough, but I worry that we will start dabbling with very expensive and unproven technologies and end up with a massive debt and a dysfunctional system. 

The option you have missed is just buying 'renewably' sourced electricity from the UK via a new inter-connector. That would seem the be the lowest risk to me.

 

 

[The Bastard]

4 hours ago, Happier diner said:

I agree. However we need to be cautious as there isn't enough money to go around messing around with multiple options. We need a firm decision on a clear strategy and then we need to get on with it. Yes, if the strategy is a combination then that's fair enough, but I worry that we will start dabbling with very expensive and unproven technologies and end up with a massive debt and a dysfunctional system. 

The option you have missed is just buying 'renewably' sourced electricity from the UK via a new inter-connector. That would seem the be the lowest risk to me.

 

 

Makes sense. We already buy/sell energy to/from the UK via the existing interconnector. The announcement about the UK-Morocco interconnector sounds interesting too, but there is clearly a long way to go. The UK will probably go towards nuclear, which would mean the double-edged sword of cheaper sustainable power at the expense of filling the Irish Sea with the usual radioactive waste - we'll probably end up with self-cooking lobsters and even more unusual cancers.

One thing makes me uneasy with that in that we'd be dependent on the whims of a foreign power, a bit like the gas situation between Russian and Europe. We've seen relations between the UK and IOM going through semi-hostile phases in the past, like when the charming Northern clod Andy Burnham tried to get rid of the reciprocal health agreement, and it would only take a change of government for it to be used as leverage over the Island. 

IMHO energy independence is a good thing - it lets us control our own interests, and gets us away from the politically-driven pricing that governs oil and gas. If pricing of either really hit a crisis point, life on the island might become unsustainable. 

The one thing I'd say about sustainable solutions such as geothermal is that they should be looked at more strategically, so rather than just having a geothermal solution in the middle of nowhere, generating power but dumping a lot of waste heat, a geothermal well could be at the centre of a cohesive development that's linked to other sustainable sources. The heat could be piped to nearby businesses, eco-homes and center-parcs tourism, used for drying timber/fuel pellets, food production (bakery ?), brewing ethanol fuel for vehicles, heated greenhouses, swimming pools, maybe even blue-sky-thinking as far as an Eden project with the IOM's own tropical domes and blue-lagoon thermal pool (as if). 

Alongside a single solution like geothermal, there is solar, hydroelectric, wind and tidal. Each of these solutions is variable, seasonal, temporal, but together they can form a far more cohesive and sustainable solution than energy production in isolation. 

Edited April 26, 2022 by The Bastard

[The Phantom]

8 minutes ago, The Bastard said:

he one thing I'd say about sustainable solutions such as geothermal is that they should be looked at more strategically, so rather than just having a geothermal solution in the middle of nowhere, generating power but dumping a lot of waste heat, a geothermal well could be at the centre of a cohesive development that's linked to other sustainable sources. The heat could be piped to nearby businesses, eco-homes and center-parcs tourism, used for drying timber/fuel pellets, food production (bakery ?), brewing ethanol fuel for vehicles, heated greenhouses, swimming pools, maybe even blue-sky-thinking as far as an Eden project with the IOM's own tropical domes and blue-lagoon thermal pool (as if). 

Alongside a single solution like geothermal, there is solar, hydroelectric, wind and tidal. Each of these solutions is variable, seasonal, temporal, but together they can form a far more cohesive and sustainable solution than energy production in isolation. 

Heating for Cannabis plants... 

[0bserver]

Interesting thoughts. We know many members of the Green lobby are scientifically illiterate. 

https://www.manxradio.com/news/isle-of-man-news/geothermal-power-station-could-generate-power-for-hundreds-of-years/

It would be good to have an expert report commissioned on this idea. 

[Markduc]

42 minutes ago, 0bserver said:

Interesting thoughts. We know many members of the Green lobby are scientifically illiterate. 

https://www.manxradio.com/news/isle-of-man-news/geothermal-power-station-could-generate-power-for-hundreds-of-years/

It would be good to have an expert report commissioned on this idea. 

I think he was being polite, raving lunatics would be a better description 

only thought on geothermal is what happens when the earths core starts cooling 

because we are sucking heat from it