Geothermal
Power from geothermal energy
Geothermal Battery Could Supply Uninterrupted Electricity
Written by Peter, on July 17, 2019
Scientists at the Tokyo Institute of Technology and Sanoh Industrial have developed a very stable battery cell that can directly convert geothermal heat into electricity. Read more »
Carbon Capture and Storage 2.0?
Written by Peter, on October 16, 2013
The Global CCS Institute, which is based in Canberra, has reported that since its previous survey a year ago, five carbon capture and storage projects have been canceled, one reduced in size and seven postponed, while three have been added. The leader in capture and storage is the United States – mostly because of the […] Read more »
Hybrid Geothermal & Compressed Air Energy Storage
Written by Peter, on May 30, 2013
The U.S. Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is conducting a feasibility study into a unique energy storage method combining geothermal heat and underground compressed air energy storage. When power is abundant, compressed air energy storage plants use it to power a large air compressor which pushes pressurized air into an underground geologic storage […] Read more »
Hot Rock Geothermal Technology Advance
Written by Peter, on January 25, 2013
Seattle-based AltaRock Energy Inc.has announced that it is confident that it has created three geothermal reservoirs from a single well. The importance of this is the high cost of drilling a deep well to reach hot rock deep underground is less significant if multiple reservoirs of hot fluid, possibly at diferent levels, can be created […] Read more »
Lithium Production as a Geothermal Power Byproduct
Written by Peter, on December 7, 2011
Simbol Materials, a Californian company, plans to extract lithium, as well as zinc and manganese, from the brine that is pumped by geothermal power plants. Currently many geothermal plants pump hot brine from deep underground to produce steam and then inject the cooled brine back into the ground. This brine is rich in minerals including […] Read more »
Water Drill Could Cut Cost of Geothermal Energy
Written by Peter, on May 20, 2010
Potter Drilling, which is partly funded by Google.org, is developing a novel drill which uses heat, rather than abrasion, to break through rock. Rocks do not expand uniformly when they get hot. This creates stress between the grains of the mineral sand that causes them to break apart. According to Jared Potter, chief executive of […] Read more »
Using CO2 Sequestration in Geothermal Power Production
Written by Peter, on January 15, 2010
Enhanced or "hot rock" geothermal power production usually works by pumping water into fissures in hot rocks deep underground, A shaft is drilled into the fissures and some ot the resulting super-heated water comes to the surface where it is used to drive a turbine. One problem with this technique is the amount of water […] Read more »
Waste Heat Geothermal Energy
Written by Peter, on October 5, 2009
The US Department of Energy is beginning a program to demonatrate a way in which the oil industry can produce useful power from waste heat. When drilling oil and gas wells and on exploration drilling rigs, fluids are used to provide pressure, to keep the drill bit cool and clean and to carry the drill […] Read more »
Mines Could Provide Geothermal Energy
Written by Peter, on August 11, 2009
Engineers from the University of Oviedo in Spain have published research which shows that mine shafts on the point of being closed down could be used to provide significant amounts of geothermal energy. The engineers have developed a method which makes it possible to estimate the amount of heat that a tunnel could potentially provide. […] Read more »
More Efficient Geothermal Heat Extraction
Written by Peter, on July 17, 2009
Scientists at the US Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have developed a new method for capturing significantly more heat from low-temperature geothermal resources. A technical and economic analysis conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has estimated that enhanced geothermal systems could provide 10 percent of the United States’ overall electrical generating capacity […] Read more »