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Enhanced geothermal systems for clean firm energy generation | Nature Reviews Clean Technology
www.nature.comGeothermal energy provides clean, steady and renewable electricity and heat, but the use of geothermal energy has conventionally been constrained to locations with adequate subsurface heat and fluid flow. Enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) enable geothermal energy usage in unconventional areas by enhancing the subsurface permeability and increasing fluid flow, which is then extracted as a carrier of the thermal energy. In this Review, we discuss the development of EGS and its role in providing energy. Some EGS are operating commercially in Europe and provide heat and/or electricity, but technical issues and concerns over induced seismicity have historically hindered the broader expansion of EGS. Adaptation of advanced drilling techniques (including the use of polycrystalline diamond compact bits, multiwell drilling pads, horizontal drilling and multistage stimulation) is enabling an increase in scale and decrease in cost of EGS projects. As a result, in the USA, enhanced geothermal is expected to achieve plant capital costs (US$4,500 kW−1) and a levelized cost of electricity (US$80 MWh−1) that are competitive with market electricity prices by 2027. With further development of EGS to manage induced seismicity risk and increase system flexibility, EGS could provide stable baseload and potentially dispatchable electricity in clean energy systems. Enhanced geothermal systems can provide clean energy in areas where conventional geothermal systems are not viable. This Review discusses energy production through these systems and the technological developments that could enable its future expansion.
I can’t find where I read it, but I remember it being something like: if all of humanity consumed the same amount as an energy hungry American and then doubled it while getting all of its power from geothermal then we have almost tapped 1% of the crusts potential, rounding up.
I did some looking around. Looks like I was a factor of 10 off. As in- not 1% but 0.1% and that could be sustained for millions of years
https://www.contrary.com/foundations-and-frontiers/geothermal
https://www.energy.gov/eere/geothermal/geothermal-faqs#:~:text=4.5 billion years.-,This heat is continually replenished by the decay of naturally,essentially inexhaustible supply of energy.
There is also a great pdf over at www.worldenergy.org under their geothermal - world energy council that is a little old but still points out the math on just how immense the energy output of earth is. We could each run our own small AI data center on geothermal power and the earth would still have extra. And we are only talking about tapping into the very top of the crust.
Now add AI technology and crypto mining and anything else we might come up with in the near future.
Americans use those so it’s already accounted for.
That’s sounds about right.
Earth is big big and we only occupy the tiniest outer layer.
Is that 1% replenished? If not then we would have problems in a short couple decade.
At what % does the crust start to experience cooling? What biological systems could be effected? What about tectonic systems?
Tons of real legitimate questions here.
It does cool down the surrounding rock, which means there’s less potential power output the more you try to use it.
But it’s also a rock floating on a pool of magma, it warms back up relatively quickly.
I read a proposal a while back for using the Yellowstone magma chamber for geothermal power generation. It’s not currently in danger of erupting as a supervolcano, but the paper worked the numbers and showed that it would actually be feasable with realistic engineering to tap enough heat from the magma chamber to literally “defuse” it if it actually came to that. And turn a profit while doing so.