The Energy Transition and technologies

[Mathgod]

Calgary-based geothermal company making some serious progress in recent years. It seems that technology like this will play a significant role in the energy transition:

https://twitter.com/user/status/1717277412206035422

[Street Pharmacist]

I'm very optimistic about geothermal's potential, but I feel like Eavor's closed loop solution would be a very expensive way to do it

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

I'm very optimistic about geothermal's potential, but I feel like Eavor's closed loop solution would be a very expensive way to do it

You don't know until you try it.

[Mathgod]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

I'm very optimistic about geothermal's potential, but I feel like Eavor's closed loop solution would be a very expensive way to do it

It's almost entirely a question of drilling costs. Once you've found a way to reduce the cost of deep drilling, you've basically won, because it's inexpensive to install and run a closed loop system once the drilling is complete. The fluid used in the loop is literally tap water, and it doesn't even require a pump to operate (uses naturally occurring thermosiphon to circulate the water).

[Mathgod]

Since we're on the topic of geothermal, figured it would be worth mentioning the Alberta 1 project. Anyone here have deep pockets and would like to invest in the project?

https://www.albertano1.ca/

[Azure]

Geothermal is great. Lots of potential there. Not sure why the feds haven't been more aggressive over the years in incentivizing large scale water to air installations.

[Frequitude]

I was watching Eavor's promo video this morning and they mentioned their process being dispatchable. Anyone with more knowledge know the degree to which it is dispatchable (in terms of both capacity and generation)?

It sounds like the basically shut the valves and less the fluid heat up even more down there, which would make hotter steam and therefore more generation...but I can't imagine that would be a huge "reservoir" of spare energy to provide a lot of capacity for a while.

Also any idea how fast it could come back online at the proper frequency?

[Mathgod]

Originally Posted by Frequitude

I was watching Eavor's promo video this morning and they mentioned their process being dispatchable. Anyone with more knowledge know the degree to which it is dispatchable (in terms of both capacity and generation)?

It sounds like the basically shut the valves and less the fluid heat up even more down there, which would make hotter steam and therefore more generation...but I can't imagine that would be a huge "reservoir" of spare energy to provide a lot of capacity for a while.

Also any idea how fast it could come back online at the proper frequency?

Not sure if I understand the question but I'll try to answer as best I can. The closed loop system can be a baseload energy source if need be, meaning it can produce energy 24/7 if that's whats required (albeit the heat source would be depleted more quickly that way, presumably in a matter of 2-3 decades instead of several). But during times when you don't need energy from it (ie: the sun is shining or the wind is blowing), you can simply shut the valve to stop the flow of liquid. When you need energy again you just open the valve and the flow resumes immediately.

The "reservoir" of energy is simply the heat within the Earth's crust that comes in contact with the loop.

[Mathgod]

Here's a good resource for those looking for technical details regarding closed loop systems in general: https://www.eavor.com/wp-content/upl...py-systems.pdf

Basic information on the project can be found in these documents: https://eavor-geretsried.de/en/media/

[#-3]

The concept of geothermal just makes me a little uncomfortable. I feel like the few isolated hobby projects that exist are one thing, but the impacts of deploying it on a massive scale makes be wonder.

[Frequitude]

Originally Posted by Mathgod

Not sure if I understand the question but I'll try to answer as best I can. The closed loop system can be a baseload energy source if need be, meaning it can produce energy 24/7 if that's whats required (albeit the heat source would be depleted more quickly that way, presumably in a matter of 2-3 decades instead of several). But during times when you don't need energy from it (ie: the sun is shining or the wind is blowing), you can simply shut the valve to stop the flow of liquid. When you need energy again you just open the valve and the flow resumes immediately.

The "reservoir" of energy is simply the heat within the Earth's crust that comes in contact with the loop.

I get that. What I was getting at though is they were touting how when they effectively "shut the valve", the process fluid is able to sit down there and get even hotter (obviously), so when they turn the valve back on they've got even more "oomf" and can generate well above the facilities steady state capacity.

I'm wondering how much that extra "oomf" is, and for how long it lasts.

Pardon the layperson terms in quotes...

[Torture]

Originally Posted by #-3

The concept of geothermal just makes me a little uncomfortable. I feel like the few isolated hobby projects that exist are one thing, but the impacts of deploying it on a massive scale makes be wonder.

Wait until you hear about fracking

[Barnes]

Originally Posted by #-3

The concept of geothermal just makes me a little uncomfortable. I feel like the few isolated hobby projects that exist are one thing, but the impacts of deploying it on a massive scale makes be wonder.

Why? There's some 900,000 odd oil and gas wells all across the WCSB.

The St Germain hotel downtown has 118 geothermal boreholes under it.

[Mathgod]

Originally Posted by Frequitude

I get that. What I was getting at though is they were touting how when they effectively "shut the valve", the process fluid is able to sit down there and get even hotter (obviously), so when they turn the valve back on they've got even more "oomf" and can generate well above the facilities steady state capacity.

I'm wondering how much that extra "oomf" is, and for how long it lasts.

Pardon the layperson terms in quotes...

From one layperson to another, let me just say, there's nothing wrong with using layperson terms.

The extra oomf you're talking about would definitely happen, but I don't know if it is an explicitly intended feature of the system. I can't seem to find any specific info on the amount of extra energy it would provide or how long that higher output would last. By 'dispatchable' they probably just mean it can be turned on or off as need be. But again I'm no expert and can't speak for them on this. Just doing what I can to spread the word about their project and the progress they're making.

But if you really wanted to, I guess you could start doing some rough calculations. Volume of water in the loop x specific heat capacity of water x degrees of extra heating. That kind of thing.

Originally Posted by #-3

The concept of geothermal just makes me a little uncomfortable. I feel like the few isolated hobby projects that exist are one thing, but the impacts of deploying it on a massive scale makes be wonder.

It's not meant to be a panacea. It's meant to be more like a tag team partner to wind and solar.

But I don't think we're that far away from a world where a huge percentage of homes & buildings get their heating needs met via geothermal.

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by Mathgod

It's not meant to be a panacea. It's meant to be more like a tag team partner to wind and solar.

Bang on always.

Geothermal energy will definitely have its place in the generation mix where it makes sense, but I don't think it is a viable baseload solution to replace nat gas. It's more likely to be a less impactful form of hydro.

[Mathgod]

Originally Posted by DoubleK

Bang on always.

Geothermal energy will definitely have its place in the generation mix where it makes sense, but I don't think it is a viable baseload solution to replace nat gas. It's more likely to be a less impactful form of hydro.

All forms of fossil fuels will sooner or later be phased out completely, including natural gas. Might as well make it happen as quickly as it can be feasibly done.

[CroCop]

Originally Posted by Mathgod

All forms of fossil fuels will sooner or later be phased out completely, including natural gas. Might as well make it happen as quickly as it can be feasibly done.

Has to happen being of finite supply. Not likely in any of our lifetime though.

[Mathgod]

Originally Posted by CroCop

Has to happen being of finite supply. Not likely in any of our lifetime though.

It absolutely must happen within our lifetime. Supply isn't the issue; emissions is the issue.

[Street Pharmacist]

Burning stuff for energy is the problem. However we get there, we have to

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

Burning stuff for energy is the problem. However we get there, we have to

You wouldn't say that if you lived in Alberta.