[ExI] Heat of the Earth [WAS Re: Efficiency of wind power]

[Mr Jones]

> Kelly Anderson:> It would be very good if we could figure out how to steal
> heat from
> > the hot spot under Yellowstone to the point of putting off the next
> > eruption of the super volcano... Probably a more potent risk than
> > asteroids, but fixing the problem seems significantly more difficult.
>

**nods** I've thought of this very same thing.  If we could somehow draw
away some of that heat safely, we could prevent the super-volcano from
sending us into the history books.  The problem is, we like to take the
easy/cheap way, instead of the long-term responsible way...so we'd pollute
the area, and destroy the balance; because it was cheaper.


>
> Eugen: Geothermal is a niche. It can be an important niche for some
> locations, but in the great total it doesn't matter that much.
>

What about ground loops, versus wells.  5-8' deep loops, 100's or 1000's of
meters in length, acting as the 'heatsink'.  I'm thinking of geo in terms of
a supplementation to home heating/cooling solutions.  Granted, some areas
don't have open space to trench in this manner, but I've heard that
lakes/ponds are also good sources.


>
> You can also deplete the local reservoir very easily and/or
> cause earthquakes and ground sinking if you don't know where
> you're doing. E.g. my place is tapping the Malm karst
> geothermal aquifer, which is somewhat anomalously high
> http://www.liag-hannover.de/fileadmin/produkte/20070713113243.pdf
> and uses to adjacent well to reinject the Kalina cycle-depleted water,
> causing a cooler plume dowstream so you must take care with
> well spacing and alignment.
>

Yeah, see I'm thinking more along the lines of using the top layer of ground
to act as a heat-sink for our homes...not so much tapping into giant
geo-thermal geysers n' such.
In winter I'd only need to heat from 55-70 or so, so approx 15degrees of
difference, which would come by way of a high efficiency natural gas boiler.
 During summer, the geo would MORE than cool the home enough, requiring no
supplementation.  Certainly the energy savings from this setup would
be sizable.  If millions of homes across the globe did this, that'd be a lot
of coal/oil not being burned.

Once the loops are ran/connected, there's no reason we can't use the land
for other purposes right?  We could still grow crops over them, have animals
graze, etc.

I see what you're saying though, it's a regional thing.  Not everywhere is
suited for this type of system.  But isn't it a good idea to implement it in
the areas where we can?  It's nothing but some trenches, and tubing, some
anti-freeze and plumbing equipment etc.
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