'Exponential Spin-up' In Geothermal Energy Projects Brings Hope for Green Power

Earth's core 'burns with an estimated forty-four trillion watts of power,' the New Yorker reminds us — enough to 'satisfy the entire world's energy needs' with a power source that's carbon-free, ubiquitous — and unlimited. (Besides running 24 hours a day, one of geothermal energy's key advantages is 'it can be used for both electricity and heating, which collectively account for around 38% of global climate emissions...')
And one drilling expert tells them there's been an 'exponential spin-up of activity in geothermal' energy projects over the last two years. (Ironically it was the fracking boom also brought an 'explosion of new drilling practices — such as horizontal drilling and magnetic sensing — that inspired a geothermal resurgence.') In 2005 one research team calculated that just 2% of the heat just four miles underground in America 'could meet the entire country's energy needs — two thousand times over,' according to the article.

So their new article checks in on the progress of geothermal energy projects around the world, including a Utah company using a diamond-bit drill to dig nearly a mile into the earth to install a 150-ton steel tube surrounded by special heat-resistant cement — all to create 'a massive straw' for transporting hot water (and steam).

The biggest problem is drilling miles through hot rock, safely. If scientists can do that, however, next-generation geothermal power could supply clean energy for eons... At 6:15 P.M. on May 3rd, cement had started flowing into the hole. Four hours later, part of the cement folded in on itself. The next morning, the cement supply ran out; the men had miscalculated how much they needed. This brought the three-hundred-million-dollar operation to a maddening halt... The cement truck from Bakersfield arrived around 8:30 P.M. By ten-thirty, the men were pouring cement again, gluing the enormous metal straw in place. Next, the team scanned the borehole with gamma rays...

Read more of this story at Slashdot.