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To: domenad
I have never understood how Geothermal energy works. Theoretically, a very hot earth core would radiate heat outward until temperature throughout the crust equalized. What produces the heat? If you drain the core of heat, how is it replenished?

Its a nuclear reaction, pretty much self-sustaining and on a the human scale, limitless. But.

This guy is flat out dishonest.
Yes, the heat is there and it's almost limitless but...

He completely ignores the problems associated with its extraction, which have not been solved. I have lived all my life in the area close to the guysers, and the production has been scaled back dramatically since the trial began 30-40 years ago.

The problem is similar to oil shale extraction. The process is easy enough. Dealing with the byproducts is not.
Heavy concentrations of minerals in the process render all the equipment useless in a very short time. Treating the mineral deposits and neutralizing them renders the resulting energy uneconomical; when factoring in the total cost of extraction, it is still economically not viable today.

The problem is analagous to the ICC building at Georgetown University, with a gigantic roof covered with solar cells which had great promise. Until the cost of maintenance and keeping the cells clean for peak efficiency was factored in. It is now just a feel-good white elephant.

There is a fundamental dishonesty with subsidized energy production.

22 posted on 08/01/2006 11:36:20 AM PDT by Publius6961 (overwhelming force behaving underwhelmingly is a waste.)
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To: Publius6961
which have not been solved

Go to the website linked above in my post and educate yourself a bit. The problems you refer to have been solved and are used on a daily basis.

The Geysers has reduced capacity because the geothermal field has been depleted to the point of no longer being economically viable as it once was.

26 posted on 08/01/2006 11:43:14 AM PDT by Michael.SF. (The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other peoples money -- M. Thatcher)
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To: Publius6961
I said: The problems you refer to have been solved and are used on a daily basis. Correction:

Many of the problems you refer to have been solved and Geothermal Energy is succesfully used on a daily basis.

29 posted on 08/01/2006 11:50:18 AM PDT by Michael.SF. (The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other peoples money -- M. Thatcher)
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To: Publius6961
He completely ignores the problems associated with its extraction, which have not been solved. I have lived all my life in the area close to the guysers, and the production has been scaled back dramatically since the trial began 30-40 years ago.

Actually, this is indicative of a common mistake that people make when projecting the effectiveness of technology. The early geothermal power plants had the problem that you describe, now they recirculate the water and gasses, and extract energy at the same rate that it is replenished.

There is a geothermal power plant near my house, which just sits there looking like it is doing nothing, requires a very small maintenance staff, and puts out about 50 megawatts.

As technology progresses, the technology described by the author, will very likely become practical.

That said, we already have the ability to build much better nuclear reactors than those that now produce power:

http://www.nationalcenter.org/NPA378.html

Smart people want to move forward with everything that makes sense. If we had listened to the do nothing, nay sayer, panic crowd, we wouldn't have automobiles, aircraft, plentiful food, and much longer lives than our ancestors.

You've probably heard the old saying, "Those who can't do, teach." I would like to suggest a corollary, "Those who can't do, should just shut the hell up, and let the doers take care of it."

68 posted on 08/01/2006 2:05:51 PM PDT by 3niner
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