Google Releases Geothermal Potential Map of the US

a_hanso writes "The Google funded Enhanced Geothermal Systems research at the Southern Methodist University has produced a coast-to-coast geothermal potential map of the United States. Having invested over $10 million on geothermal energy, Google seems to believe that it is our best bet at kicking the oil habit (especially now that nuclear power has suddenly become disproportionately unpopular)."

Re:Geothermal issues

[Anonymous Coward]

1. core is VERY VERY deep, not 6km, try 6000km
2. it is believed the core of the planet is run on uranium :P
3. no one knows exactly what causes magnetic field to exist as it does - some say iron core, others say water, etc.
4. question #2, well, -_-

Geothermal energy rises through the surface @ 1W/m2. Solar energy falls on the planet @ 1000W/m2 (more or less). Geothermal is much more reliable source of energy.

Anyway, large scale geothermal will not work. Pumping large amount of heat involves pumping large amount of water. Geothermal can be considered mostly like oil - if you pump it fast enough, your hot spot will become a cold spot. Large scale extraction will also bring about its own problems, like geological instability as thermal stresses move the ground around a bit.

Geothermal assisted heating and cooling for houses is a great idea though, especially if you live out in the sticks or close to large bodies of water. But for power generation, like 10GWe plant, well, not realistic.

Re:Geothermal issues

[sanosuke001]

Damn, you're all semantic crazy-people. Burning fossil fuels + fission + fusion + burning baby tears. I'm more asking that if we COULD replace all our current energy sources with geothermal, what is the net outcome either a net gain or loss of excess heat into the atmosphere and from the stuff beneath our feet (core + mantle + crust)

Re:Geothermal issues

[orgelspieler]

A hurricane has about 6e14 W [noaa.gov]. You might be able to create somewhere around 8kJ/day if you found a way to harness [spectrum-e...etic.co.uk] all your gas. That's about 1e-1 W. That's a difference of 15 orders of magnitude.

The earth has geothermal energy of about 1e31 J [wikipedia.org]. 15 orders of magnitude less than that is 1e16J. That's less than what Zimbabwe uses annually [wikipedia.org]. The core is radioactively replenished at 30TW. As of 2007 there was already 10GW [wikipedia.org] of geothermal electric capacity. That's only 4 orders of magnitude. So no, it's not a fart in a hurricane. I am flabbergasted by these findings. I thought for sure you were right.