DoE Begins Tests for Fracked Geothermal
The Trump administration is no friend of wind and solar. Axed subsidies and project suspensions have been the attitude towards those alternative forms of energy. Geothermal, however, is something else. The current Department of Energy is very much for it. In fact, it is so much for it that it funded an experiment that would show whether fracking technology could be used to generate geothermal…
The Trump administration, known for its skepticism towards wind and solar energy, has taken a more favorable stance towards geothermal power. The Department of Energy (DoE) has funded an experiment to explore whether fracking technology can be employed to generate geothermal energy worldwide. Geothermal energy is heat produced by the decay of radioactive elements in the Earth's mantle, and it has the potential to provide substantial amounts of power.
The Union of Concerned Scientists estimates that just 33,000 feet below the Earth's surface, there is 50,000 times more energy than all the oil and gas in the world combined. However, accessing this heat requires deep drilling, which is both costly and technologically challenging, limiting geothermal's practical applications to locations with warmer temperatures, like Iceland.
The FORGE laboratory, part of the DoE, is testing the use of fracking to create water reservoirs in rock formations, heating the water, and using it for power generation. The goal is to determine if the heated water remains hot enough for practical use. Annick Adjei, a senior research analyst at Wood Mackenzie, acknowledges the potential but highlights the risk of repeatability, emphasizing the need for more milestones to gauge progress.
The DoE has reported positive outcomes from earlier tests, where they successfully stimulated injection and production wells, replicating a fracking process that retains water in the rock for extended periods. The current test in Utah, expected to last up to four months, will generate more reliable data.
Despite the promising results, the high costs associated with geothermal energy remain a challenge. The closed-loop system being tested in Utah could potentially expand the areas where geothermal can be utilized, but the costs need to decrease for the technology to become commercially viable. The oil and gas industry, known for its expertise in deep drilling, has been instrumental in the geothermal industry's development.
The possibility exists that the oil and gas industry could ultimately play a crucial role in making geothermal energy commercially feasible.
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