California has 2,600 MW of geothermal & UK linkups & Tidal

Capt'n Midnight

Compare California's 2600MW to our current usage.
http://www.eirgrid.com/operations/systemperformancedata/systemdemand/

Interesting that they can extract minerals too.



http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/08/key-decisions-ahead-to-affect-californias-geothermal-market-part-1

Geothermal energy provides a significant share of California’s power supply, with about 42 percent of commercial in-state renewable electricity generation in 2010 – and the state has more geothermal installed capacity than any other state at 2,600 MW. If it were its own country, California would take first prize as the largest producer of geothermal energy in the world.
...
California has substantial identified undeveloped conventional geothermal resources. On the low end, there are about 3,000 MW waiting to be developed in state, and another 1,300 MW in nearby Nevada, according to Public Interest Energy Research (PIER) studies. In the past, DOE-funded studies by Sandia National Laboratory indicated that with advanced technologies included, there could be as much as 24,750 MW of additional capacity. More recently, the 2008 USGS assessment reported undiscovered resources at 11,340 MW, and potential for Enhanced Geothermal Systems in the state as high as 48,000 MW.

California remains a pioneer in technological innovation, a great example of which is in the extraction of minerals from geothermal brines. Geothermal brines in the Salton Sea region of Southern California are rich in lithium, as well as other critical minerals including manganese and zinc, and uniquely positioned to competitively, sustainably, and reliably help meet the world’s need for high performance battery materials for years to come. Just one 50-MW geothermal power plant in the Salton Sea region can yield sufficient lithium for about 1.6 million plug-in hybrid electric vehicles per year, Simbol Materials told GEA.

Simbol Materials is commercializing the extraction technology at EnergySource’s Hudson Ranch I site, creating a bridge between geothermal operations and the emerging electric vehicle industry. The bolt-on technology also utilizes CO2, wastewater, company representatives noted, as well as excess steam from the power plant, adding to site sustainability. In addition, royalties from mineral extraction improve the competitiveness of geothermal energy.

This paper suggests that an investment in the US of less than one billion dollars would be enough to commercialise geothermal
http://geo-energy.org/pdf/Geothermal_Energy%27s_Future_Potential_Issue_Brief.pdf


Not only is the UK hooking up to Norwegian hydro and eyeing up our windpower, they are looking at Icelandic geothermal too
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/apr/11/iceland-volcano-green-power




also this
http://www.are.gb.com/projects/fablink/ interconnector


and this http://www.are.gb.com/projects/tidal/ - potentially 4GW of tidal power from the channel islands

Waestrel

very interesting - the world is really undergoing a change in the model of how and where we generate electricity. Geo thermal is a great and often under utilised resource, but I am unsure if it is of much potential here. That said, i can see a European super grid connecting Iceland and all European islands in our lifetime.

Capt'n Midnight

Irish geothermal maps http://maps.seai.ie/geothermal/

click on i symbol on the map toolbar and then click on the map to see the temperatures at any point

at 5000m the northern half has decent enough temperatures. drilling costs would be extortionate but it's early days for the technology.




http://www.seai.ie/Renewables/Geothermal_Energy/Geothermal_Maps/
http://www.seai.ie/Grants/Renewable_Energy_RD_D/Projects_funded_to_date/Geothermal_Energy/

Waestrel

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

Irish geothermal maps http://maps.seai.ie/geothermal/

click on i symbol on the map toolbar and then click on the map to see the temperatures at any point

at 5000m the northern half has decent enough temperatures. drilling costs would be extortionate but it's early days for the technology.




http://www.seai.ie/Renewables/Geothermal_Energy/Geothermal_Maps/
http://www.seai.ie/Grants/Renewable_Energy_RD_D/Projects_funded_to_date/Geothermal_Energy/

I am a geologist myself and I realise the costs of drilling. 5km is a long way down! As you said early days, but it would be a long time before it competes with wind, wave and tidal, which we also have plenty of. I wonder what minerals we could harvest from thermal brines circulating in deep precambrian basement?

Capt'n Midnight

Waestrel wrote: »

I am a geologist myself and I realise the costs of drilling. 5km is a long way down! As you said early days, but it would be a long time before it competes with wind, wave and tidal, which we also have plenty of. I wonder what minerals we could harvest from thermal brines circulating in deep precambrian basement?

the advantage of geothermal is that you can have power 24/7/365 or by changing the flow rate you can have it on demand


do we have any old mines deep enough to provide a head start ?

http://hepwww.rl.ac.uk/ukdmc/pub/courier.html 1100m in the UK

Waestrel

Tara mines in NAvan is close on the 1km down mark, and not many years of life left in it yet.