Geothermal was the energy economic wildcard even 18 months ago. Now it is almost certainly going to outcompete nuclear (big, SMRs, whatever) and be the more expensive but necessary buffer/supplement to wind and solar. #energysky - ThreadSky

robcarlson.bsky.social • 80 days ago

Geothermal was the energy economic wildcard even 18 months ago.

Now it is almost certainly going to outcompete nuclear (big, SMRs, whatever) and be the more expensive but necessary buffer/supplement to wind and solar.
#energysky

Reposted from Financial Times

Fracking expertise has potential to unlock geothermal energy, says IEA

https://www.ft.com/content/95012f1f-8650-483a-bc3f-6cd146318a45

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chrpoll.bsky.social•80 days ago

When first established it will be the cheapest thus acting as base load in a district heating system, I believe.

kevinleecaster.bsky.social•80 days ago

Geothermal can most likely only be possible in about 18 or so U.S. states though. I hope that the industry is able to scale up and start to prove out some of the hype.
https://www.wri.org/insights/next-generation-geothermal-energy-explained

robcarlson.bsky.social•78 days ago

Enhanced geothermal may be feasible in only 18 states today, but the DOE is explicitly working to make it feasible everywhere.

And with exponential progress in drilling tech, and more focused investment on other bottlenecks, I expect that will come to pass.
https://liftoff.energy.gov/next-generation-geothermal-power/

kevinleecaster.bsky.social•78 days ago

I worked in the geothermal industry for quite a while. I've seen DOE et al hype it for years. For example:

The Geothermal Energy Research, Development and Demonstration Act of 1974. The USGS estimates that geothermal fields alone contain about 42,000 MW centuries of recoverable electricity.

robcarlson.bsky.social•78 days ago

Well, I certainly respect that experience.

Yet with the progress that Fervo, et al, are making, and the real possibility of economically viable closed-loop systems, I am hopeful that there are positive surprises in store.

More possibility for positive surprise here than in fission, to be sure.

kevinleecaster.bsky.social•78 days ago

I'm also hoping that there is enough progress to make it work out economically to provide a viable widespread base load source.

I'm just assuming at this point that it's going to turn out that solar & wind with storage are going to end up being the best option.

mark-dingman.bsky.social•80 days ago

Link to the IEA report:

https://www.iea.org/reports/the-future-of-geothermal-energy

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