News
Sep 09, 2009Geothermal Is Getting Red Hot! - Part II
The future for geothermal energy
The crucial advantages of geothermal energy we reviewed last week, namely a mature and proven technology with a very high capacity factor (meaning that geothermal can supply utilities with baseload power around the clock) and low levelized cost of energy, make geothermal one of our high growth renewable energy sectors for the next decade. Recent advances in geothermal technology, such as the binary power plant, have made possible the economic production of electricity from geothermal resources lower than 302°F.
The most promising technology developments are the so-called Enhanced (or Engineered) Geothermal Systems (EGS) which generally refer to natural resources which have to be fully engineered and require artificial stimulation. This really means the creation of a man-made geothermal reservoir in hot dry rocks at depths of 13,000 to 16,500 feet by fracturing the rock with explosives or high pressure water injections. The hot water is then pumped back out of the reservoir and fed to the power plant.
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