[Plantagenet]

There's been a major breakthrough in Geothermal Energy. Tranditionally geothermal energy was exploited in very localized areas where heat flow was very high and the rocks were unusually hot......mostly near volcanoes and subsurface magma chambers, or along fault zones.

But now, in a major new development, a deep horizontal well in Saskatchewan was able to produce signifiant amounts of hot water from typical sedimentary rock buried deep in a typical sedimentary basin......with no volcanic heat source or fault zone involved.

saskatchewan-driller-hits-gusher-with-ground-breaking-geothermal-well-that-offers-hope-for-oil-workers

The amazing thing about this new discovery is the huge huge potential for geothermal power development that this opens up. Rather then having to target small subsurface steam reservoirs near volcanoes or along faults, geothermal drillers can now produce electricity using geothermal energy from the hot water found in deep sedimentary rock formations in many new places......formations that typically extend laterally for tens and even hundreds of miles underground.

WOW!

WHEEEEE!

THIS IS GOING TO BE BIG!!!


Coming soon to a sedimentary basin near you......GEOTHERMAL ENERGY!!!

[mustang19]

Nevada is the new world capital.

[radon1]

geothermal-power-technology-t68010-220.html#p1389668

[EduardoP]

HDR geothermal energy relies on existing technologies and engineering processes such as drilling and hydraulic fracturing, techniques established by the oil and gas industry.

[Subjectivist]

HDR geothermal energy relies on existing technologies and engineering processes such as drilling and hydraulic fracturing, techniques established by the oil and gas industry.

I have always wondered why so little effort is made exploiting hot dry rock as was proposed in the 1980's.

[Gmark]

I have always wondered why so little effort is made exploiting hot dry rock as was proposed in the 1980's.

I'm not sure how significant these are:

DEEP is a Saskatchewan privately held corporation with a mission to develop Saskatchewan’s geothermal resources for power generation. DEEP’s vision is to be a producer of secure, stable and sustainable energy.DEEP is developing a unique geothermal (or earth heat) power facility in southern Saskatchewan. This project will establish the first geothermal power facility in Canada.DEEP will harness high-quality geothermal resources with existing drilling and power generation technologies to establish a long-term renewable baseload (24 hours a day, 365 days a year) power supply. DEEP’s long-term goal is to develop 100s of megawatts (MW) of baseload power facilities from small, scalable and repeatable 5-20 MW power plants, each which could power up to 5,000 households.

... and a test project underway in Alberta...
https://eavor.com/

Eavor-Loop is a fully integrated prototype closed-loop geothermal system with a novel well design and thermodynamic efficiency.

This demonstration project involves drilling, connecting, and sealing a closed loop geothermal system that consists of two vertical wells that are connected laterally at a depth of approximately 2400m. The intent of this project is to demonstrate the technical feasibility of creating a closed-loop system for geothermal systems. This project will take place utilizing sites that would not normally be viable for conventional geothermal power and/or heat production.

[Gmark]

Emerging geothermal technology.

This is a description of the Eavor-loop project which has a little better explanation than other sources.
From https://www.bdplaw.com/publications/hot ... t-hot-air/

Eavor-Loop

Eavor Technologies Inc. (Eavor), an Alberta company, is the developer of the Eavor-Loop, a closed loop system, which consists of two vertical wells several kilometers apart connected by many horizontal multilateral wellbores. The expertise of Alberta’s drilling industry is highly applicable to projects like the Eavor-Loop that require precise drilling. The Eavor-Loop uses these horizontal wellbores as an underground “radiator” and does not require a porous and permeable formation (whether naturally occurring or enhanced through hydraulic fracturing). Due to the unique nature of the working fluids Eavor uses as a medium, it does not employ conventional completion methods, but has invented a proprietary completion technology to isolate the working fluid from surrounding rock (without loss of circulation).

The configuration of the Eavor-Loop allows the fluids to circulate naturally, thus saving the “parasitic” energy costs normally expended to pump the fluids in and out of the formation. The process is called thermosiphoning – the hot fluids in the wellbores tend to rise to the surface and the cooler fluids from which the heat energy has been extracted at the surface tend to sink. The heat energy brought to the surface is used to generate electricity in a specialized generator that operates using lower temperature fluids than conventional generators. Although the temperature of the heat source will decline over time, the decline is slow, allowing for a significant productive term. Eavor Technologies Inc. currently has a demonstration project near Rocky Mountain House, Alberta. The project was designed to prove the critical elements of the Eavor-Loop technology, not its commerciality at this stage.

Eavor-Loop technology is theoretically capable of operating at scale almost anywhere on Earth.

[Tanada]

Western governors launch bid to spur geothermal energy development

Western state governors have launched an initiative that they said could spur the development of additional geothermal energy resources.

The Heat Beneath Our Feet initiative was announced by Gov. Jared Polis (D-CO), the incoming chair of the Western Governors’ Association.

The initiative is intended to examine market, technology and policy factors that affect the development and deployment of geothermal technologies. It also will evaluate strategies to scale geothermal technologies across the West. It also will aim to develop key findings on geothermal energy applications, land use planning, and market barriers, as well as assess opportunities to improve federal mapping of and access to geothermal energy reserves and project permitting procedures on federal public lands.

Initiative findings are expected to be included in a report to be released at the WGA 2023 Annual Meeting in Boulder, Colorado.

Geothermal resources are reservoirs of hot water that exist at varying temperatures and depths below the Earth’s surface. Mile-or-more-deep wells can be drilled into underground reservoirs to tap steam and hot water that can be brought to the surface for use in a variety of applications, including electricity generation, direct use, and heating and cooling.

The U.S. holds around 25% of the world’s installed geothermal energy capacity, and 95% of that is in the Western States. California generates the most electricity from geothermal energy. The Geysers dry steam reservoir in Northern California is the largest known dry steam field in the world and has been producing electricity since 1960.

Growth in the U.S. geothermal sector has been slow over the past three decades. “If we are serious about decarbonizing energy in the Western U.S., we need to start taking advantage of the heat beneath our feet,” said Dr. Amanda Kolker, Laboratory Program Manager for Geothermal at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Through the newly launched initiative, WGA intends to evaluate geothermal energy technology development in the Western states and assess the potential benefits it would offer.

There are three basic types of geothermal power plants. Dry steam plants use steam directly from a geothermal reservoir to turn generator turbines. The first geothermal power plant was built in 1904 in Tuscany, Italy, where natural steam erupted from the earth.

Flash steam plants take high-pressure hot water from deep inside the earth and convert it to steam to drive generator turbines. When the steam cools, it condenses to water and is injected back into the ground to be used again. Most geothermal power plants are flash steam plants.

Binary cycle power plants transfer the heat from geothermal hot water to another liquid. The heat causes the second liquid to turn to steam, which is used to drive a generator turbine.

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