Tag: geothermal
Proposed geothermal energy solution could turn aquifers into huge batteries
Humans have dug wells to retrieve drinking water from aquifers for thousands of years. However, since groundwater maintains relatively stable temperatures, it can store and exchange heat. A new study in Applied Energy claims that many structures could heat and cool themselves using groundwater, turning aquifers into renewable energy sources.
How Old Coal Mines Are Now Producing Clean Geothermal Energy
As the world rolls back on using coal to extract energy, it leaves behind empty coal mines. The BBC reports that the UK is actively using these coal mines as a source of geothermal energy.
The BBC visits a wine warehouse in the northeast England town Gateshead, where old coal mines “could still have a role to play in heating homes — but this time, without burning fossil fuels.”
A new district heating system in Gateshead is poised to begin warming homes and buildings in the area at a cost 5% below market rate, using the clean heat from its mines 150m (490ft) below the ground.
The water in the mines is naturally heated in the surrounding rocks to 20 degrees C (68 degrees Fahrenheit), according to the video report — so a heat exchanger on the surface just repurposes the extracted heat for energy consumers. It’s a technique that’s also being adopted in the Netherlands. But it’s especially applicable in the U.K., where a quarter of homes are above old coal fields (as are 9 of its 10 major urban centers).
The report points out that coal is the world’s largest source of CO2 emissions, but now coal production in the UK has fallen by 94% in the last 10 years. “So what happens when the coal mines that used to power our cities are no longer used?”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
University of Galway looks to unearth the potential of geothermal heat
Researchers will gather data on the performance of a new geothermal heat pump system while helping to decarbonise the university campus.
Read more: University of Galway looks to unearth the potential of geothermal heat
How A Tiny Toad Could Upend a US Geothermal Project
Unfortunately, the only place in the world where the species is found is on 760 acres of wetlands about 100 miles east of Reno, Nevada, according to the New York Times. And that’s near the site for two renewable-energy geothermal plants which poses “significant risk to the well-being of the species,” according to America’s Fish and Wildlife Service — which just announced an emergency measure declaring it an endangered species.
The temporary protection, which went into effect immediately and lasts for 240 days, was imposed to ward off the toad’s potential extinction, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said in a statement, adding that it would consider public comments about whether to extend the toad’s emergency listing.
The designation would add another hurdle for a plan to build two power plants with the encouragement of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. The project is already the subject of a lawsuit filed by conservationists and a nearby Native American tribe. They hope the emergency listing can be used to block construction, which recently resumed…. The suit contended that the geothermal plants would dry up nearby hot springs sacred to the tribe and wipe out the Dixie Valley toad species.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service argues that “protecting small population species like this ensures the continued biodiversity necessary to maintain climate-resilient landscapes in one of the driest states in the country.”
They were only recently scientifically described — or declared a unique species — in 2017, making the Dixie Valley toad “>the first new toad species to be described in the U.S. in nearly 50 years. And they are truly unique. When they were described, scientists analyzed 14 different morphological characteristics like size, shape, and markings. Dixie Valley toads scored “significantly different” from other western toad species in all categories.
Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader walterbyrd for sharing the link!
Read more of this story at Slashdot.