Drilling for Energy

GeoThermal

Geothermal is becoming an increasing viable option for renewable, sustainable energy. It is almost available to places that are near tectonic plates, essentially anywhere along the coast of the Pacific Ocean. This makes British Columbia a prime candidate. Some research scientists believe that there it up to 3000MW of  geothermal energy just in BC alone.

  It works by drilling deep down, several kilometers, and pumping steam/hot water out to generate electricty. The great thing about geothermal is that the energy is constant, unless solar, wind, hydro which vary depending on time of day or season. However one of the down side is that it is very capital intensive as there there needs to be heavy machinery for drilling.

Ever since Obama became president, there has been increased funding for geothermal, – $467 million. The US plans on development enhanced geothermal, which allows geothermal power to be extracted almost anywhere. This works by shooting high pressure down the drill site to allow circulation of heat and steam, which is then extracted.

In England, there are already plans for its first geothermal power plant, and could ultimately end up producing enough power for about 5,000 homes. In Germany, a new geothermal power plant has just been opened, with the government expecting it to pump out up to 280 MW by 2020. In the Philippines, 23% of the power nationally is provided by geothermal.  The worldwide total for geothermal is currently around 10 000 MW, which is enough power for 60 million people. A great example is Iceland, which 26.5% of their power is sourced from geothermal, and also provides 90% of their heat. Because of its abundance, some of their pavements are also naturally heated!!

So after watching the video above, where does Canada fit in the picture? Well there are some buildings that do use it for heating but currently there are no geothermal plants connected to the power grid. Apparently our government had done some research back in the the 70′s when oil prices were high but stopped after they dropped in the 80′s. However now there is renewed interest. Some companies, like Shell believe that in Alberta geothermal is feasible.  The major issue is cost. If anything, the oil industry are ones that can back it up. One of the highest costs in starting a geothermal plant is drilling. The oil companies already have the equipment, and they have mentioned that using geothermal can reduce the usage of natual gas and carbon emissions. The Canadian government has recently launched a $1 billion clean energy fund. The fund should encourage small and large businesses to come up with solutions that are sustainable for Canada.

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