Drilling sandstones versus granites is like drilling brick versus concrete. You need a different drill. We now have one which is the enabler to drill economically 10 km deep into granite, almost anywhere on earth where temperatures of over 300 C can be found, not only to provide heat, but also to generate High Pressure High Temperature steam.

This can run a Rankine steam cycle just like a coal or nuclear power plant, just without the fuel. With the earth’s solid crust (10km) versus its diameter (12,000km), being thinner than the skin of an apple in comparison, there is unlimited 24 hours/7 days-a-week CO2 neutral power for all generations to come.

 

Because it can be 75% cheaper than coal!

The Facts:

  1. A cubic meter of granite @ 10 km has about half the energy of a cubic meter in a gas field*.
  2. There is rock similar to granite anywhere at depth on earth
  3. With continuous replenishment from below a thermal well would be inexhaustable
  4. A technical lifetime of 1000 years is possible (vs 30 for coal or 50 for nuclear power plants)
  5. There is no exhaust, so no pollution (all water is pumped back down).
  6. Pumping energy is minimal, as cold return water is heavier than up coming hot water.
  7. Simplicity, reliability and safety of the system far higher than coal or nuclear
  8. Small footprint vs wind/solar power (same a coal power plant) at much lower cost
  9. Green and 24/7

    And certainly not in the least:

  10. There are no fuel costs, or disposal costs (or decommisioning costs)
  11. And no fuel = no fuel price increase or fluctuations = less investment risk

Coal power is sold on average for € 40/MWh, of which € 30 is the cost of coal. With about similar construction costs, trading a nuclear or coal unit for a well system this saves about € 30 per MWh in fuel cost. With a 800 MW power plant, a € 400 million investment this constitutes a savings of about € 165 million per year. An additional ROI of 41% compared to any coal or nuclear investment.

With an average of 80% power and 98% availability, production is 800*0.8*0.98*8760 = 5.5 million MWh,
and yes, a coal plant has to be operated, maintained and amortised on 10 € /MWh, and so could a geothermal plant. So without the footprint of wind/solar it can easily compete with 100 €/MWh (wind) and 190 € MWh (solar), even in the far future, and is 75% cheaper than coal today!

* Granite = 2.3 MJ/m3 per degree C, so with deltaT= 300 C we have 690 MJ/m3 (0.19 MWh/m3)
Gas reservoirs with 10% porosity have at best (@400 bar) 40 m3 of methane @ 36 MJ/m2 about 1440 MJ/m3. So geothermal heat reachable with our drill has about half the energy content per m3 of a gas field.

But this can be found ANYWHERE on earth, not just in sparse fields, and with constant supply from below, INEXHAUSTABLE, and WITHOUT CO2 or any other gasses. Even pumping losses are low as the (cold) return water is heavier than the (hot) water coming up, just like in a thermo-siphon, and properly designed it could run by itself ! For a thousand years.

And do the math. Even without replenishment, just one well system 8-10 km deep would have the same energy reserve as the whole Groningen gas field, with only a 8x8 km underground footprint, but less than 1 hectare (0.01 km^2) of surface foot stamp, (Groningen field: 45 km x 25 km and about 130m thick estimated 2.8 trillion m3, about 24 billion MWh versus 8 x 8 x 2 x 10^9 x 0.19 MWh = 24 billion MWh).