Geothermal

[mspart]

I just read that Geothermal is a thing in TX right now.    They are moving forward with this clean energy source.   Due to a series of bills that clarify the drilling rights etc, it makes it easier for geothermal folks to obtain the resource.   This got bipartisan support.   Will this be something that we see happening in other states?  Seems like a win win.   Its readily available and clean.   What's  not to like?

https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/26/texas-geothermal-energy-oil-and-gas/

mspart

[Husker_Du]

can politicians make money off 1) it and 2) stopping it ? 

 

[Offthemat]

Can it generate electricity cheaper than coal or natural gas?  Or nuclear?

[Paul158]

11 hours ago, Offthemat said:

Can it generate electricity cheaper than coal or natural gas?  Or nuclear?

Over the last 20 years the company I worked for installed 900 geothermal units. I was in charge setting up and starting up all the units. They are used instead of conventional heat pumps, A/C units and gas furnaces. They are very efficient. At one time the federal government had a tax credit of 35% no cap. North Carolina added another tax credit of 30% with a 8500 dollar cap. Systems are generally about 2 to 3 times the cost of a heat pump. Are units come with a 10-year parts and labor warranty. The units can be hooked into your hot water system and save about 50 percent on electricity. The Geothermal system is 2 to 3 time more efficient than a 14 Seer heat pump. They put them in the northern and the southern states.

[Offthemat]

12 minutes ago, Paul158 said:

Over the last 20 years the company I worked for installed 900 geothermal units. I was in charge setting up and starting up all the units. They are used instead of conventional heat pumps, A/C units and gas furnaces. They are very efficient. At one time the federal government had a tax credit of 35% no cap. North Carolina added another tax credit of 30% with a 8500 dollar cap. Systems are generally about 2 to 3 times the cost of a heat pump. Are units come with a 10-year parts and labor warranty. The units can be hooked into your hot water system and save about 50 percent on electricity. The Geothermal system is 2 to 3 time more efficient than a 14 Seer heat pump. They put them in the northern and the southern states.

The first I heard of these residential applications was when it was reported that GW Bush had installed the system in his ranch house and therefore consumed much less energy than AlGore’s mansion in Tennessee.  But the system described in mspart’s link is described as using the hot water to turn turbines,  Maybe I don’t understand it though.

[ionel]

12 hours ago, Offthemat said:

Can it generate electricity cheaper than coal or natural gas?  Or nuclear?

They can and spin the turbine to produce electricity at existing or new power plant.  One of my sons was a drill engineer offshore Exxon Guyana now with a geothermal start up.  They are working on first drill in Kenya.  Thing about geothermal vs oil, you know the hot rock is down there but how hard will it be to drill?  But if you want to lose money, invest in a geothermal startup, there's so many guarantee most won't make it.  

[Paul158]

4 minutes ago, Offthemat said:

The first I heard of these residential applications was when it was reported that GW Bush had installed the system in his ranch house and therefore consumed much less energy than AlGore’s mansion in Tennessee.  But the system described in mspart’s link is described as using the hot water to turn turbines,  Maybe I don’t understand it though.

Yes, that is a lot different than how a Geothermal heat pump operates. I am not familiar with the hot water to turbines either.

[Offthemat]

2 hours ago, ionel said:

They can and spin the turbine to produce electricity at existing or new power plant.  One of my sons was a drill engineer offshore Exxon Guyana now with a geothermal start up.  They are working on first drill in Kenya.  Thing about geothermal vs oil, you know the hot rock is down there but how hard will it be to drill?  But if you want to lose money, invest in a geothermal startup, there's so many guarantee most won't make it.  

I’ve already invested all I want to in hot water heaters.  Coal and gas plants are better situated to prosper as wind and solar fail.  Geothermal sounds like a potential solution for areas that don’t have coal or gas, but it hasn’t been proven economically competitive where those are available.  Who knows, it may be geothermal that saves us when the sun burns out.