Just one of the many potential sources of renewable energy. Of course it can only be implemented cost-effectively at certain points on the earth, but every amount helps. It seems ridiculous that Hawaii has to import so much oil, when it could create probably all of its energy needs (other than transportation, unless every single car on the islands becomes electric) via geo-thermal.
The center of the Earth is a roiling ball of heat, roughly 6,000 degrees Celsius as near as we can tell without a sci-fi tunneling effort. The closest humanity has come to that molten core is some 12 kilometers beneath the continental crust in Russia, which isn't even halfway through said crust and akin to drilling into an apple without piercing the skin. Yet, it's pretty clear that a lot of that core and mantle heat makes its way to or near the surface—witness: Yellowstone, the big island of Hawaii, all of Iceland—offering a cheap, constant and potentially clean source of energy.
As it stands, geothermal accounts for roughly 0.3 percent of global electricity generation. A big chunk of that comes from one power plant at The Geysers in Northern California. Other hotbeds of geothermal use range from the Philippines and Indonesia to Germany and Mexico. And there is plenty more to come by, for example in the volcanic seamounts of Hawaii, a state which currently relies on burning imported oil for 90 percent of its electricity, or using the heat in onsen (hot springs) as a replacement for nuclear power in Japan. Even California's Google has gotten into the act, sinking roughly $11 million into geothermal drilling research.
The International Energy Agency suggested in a road map for the technology's development released this week that geothermal could increase 10-fold by 2050 if the right financial and policy incentives are put in place—along with research funding for more advanced systems, known as enhanced geothermal (or EGS). EGS involves drilling into the Earth, fracturing the hot rock below and then pumping water (or other working fluids) down to capture the heat and return it to the surface—mimicking the kind of heat flow that occurs naturally at a geyser.
"Now, more than ever, the illusions of division threaten our very existence. We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another as if we were one single tribe.” -King T'Challa, Black Panther
The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it. ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is. ~Winston Churchill
"The International Energy Agency suggested in a road map for the technology's development released this week that geothermal could increase 10-fold by 2050 if the right financial and policy incentives are put in place—along with research funding for more advanced systems, known as enhanced geothermal (or EGS). EGS involves drilling into the Earth, fracturing the hot rock below and then pumping water (or other working fluids) down to capture the heat and return it to the surface—mimicking the kind of heat flow that occurs naturally at a geyser.
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But what if taking heat from the earth causes some sort of unintended envirnmental impact (possibble killing some endangered earth worms of even ground squirrels!!). Everything we do as humans effects something else....better get the ok from enviro nazis first.
The left is angry because they are now being judged by the content of their character and not by the color of their skin.
