Old Rocks
Diamond Member
https://mitei.mit.edu/system/files/geothermal-energy-full.pdf
Findings: Geothermal energy from EGS represents a large, indigenous resource that can provide base-load electric power and heat at a level that can have a major impact on the United States, while incurring minimal environmental impacts. With a reasonable investment in R&D, EGS could provide 100 GWe or more of cost-competitive generating capacity in the next 50 years. Further, EGS provides a secure source of power for the long term that would help protect America against economic instabilities resulting from fuel price fluctuations or supply disruptions. Most of the key technical requirements to make EGS work economically over a wide area of the country are in effect, with remaining goals easily within reach. This achievement could provide performance verification at a commercial scale within a 10- to 15-year period nationwide. In spite of its enormous potential, the geothermal option for the United States has been largely ignored. In the short term, R&D funding levels and government policies and incentives have not favored growth of U.S. geothermal capacity from conventional, high-grade hydrothermal resources. Because of limited R&D support of EGS in the United States, field testing and supporting applied geoscience and engineering research has been lacking for more than a decade. Because of this lack of support, EGS technology development and demonstration recently has advanced only outside the United States with accompanying limited technology transfer. This has led to the perception that
insurmountable technical problems or limitations exist for EGS. However, in our detailed review of international field-testing data so far, the panel did not uncover any major barriers or limitations to the technology. In fact, we found that significant progress has been achieved in recent tests carried out at Soultz, France, under European Union (EU) sponsorship; and in Australia, under largely private sponsorship. For example, at Soultz, a connected reservoir-well system with an active volume of more than 2 km3 at depths from 4 to 5 km has been created and tested at fluid production rates within a factor of 2 to 3 of initial commercial goals. Such progress leads us to be optimistic about achieving commercial viability in the United States in a next phase of testing, if a national-scale program is supported properly. Specific findings include:
An in depth study from MIT. It does not get much better than that.
Findings: Geothermal energy from EGS represents a large, indigenous resource that can provide base-load electric power and heat at a level that can have a major impact on the United States, while incurring minimal environmental impacts. With a reasonable investment in R&D, EGS could provide 100 GWe or more of cost-competitive generating capacity in the next 50 years. Further, EGS provides a secure source of power for the long term that would help protect America against economic instabilities resulting from fuel price fluctuations or supply disruptions. Most of the key technical requirements to make EGS work economically over a wide area of the country are in effect, with remaining goals easily within reach. This achievement could provide performance verification at a commercial scale within a 10- to 15-year period nationwide. In spite of its enormous potential, the geothermal option for the United States has been largely ignored. In the short term, R&D funding levels and government policies and incentives have not favored growth of U.S. geothermal capacity from conventional, high-grade hydrothermal resources. Because of limited R&D support of EGS in the United States, field testing and supporting applied geoscience and engineering research has been lacking for more than a decade. Because of this lack of support, EGS technology development and demonstration recently has advanced only outside the United States with accompanying limited technology transfer. This has led to the perception that
insurmountable technical problems or limitations exist for EGS. However, in our detailed review of international field-testing data so far, the panel did not uncover any major barriers or limitations to the technology. In fact, we found that significant progress has been achieved in recent tests carried out at Soultz, France, under European Union (EU) sponsorship; and in Australia, under largely private sponsorship. For example, at Soultz, a connected reservoir-well system with an active volume of more than 2 km3 at depths from 4 to 5 km has been created and tested at fluid production rates within a factor of 2 to 3 of initial commercial goals. Such progress leads us to be optimistic about achieving commercial viability in the United States in a next phase of testing, if a national-scale program is supported properly. Specific findings include:
An in depth study from MIT. It does not get much better than that.
