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Limitless Renewable Energy Exists Under Our Feet

Posted: Fri Sep 24, 2010 9:59 am
by Apoptosis
Enhanced Geothermal Systems

Could Answer Energy Question

Expert Explains How Limitless Renewable Energy

Exists Right Under Our Feet


The discourse on green energy almost always includes the upside of how great it is for the environment and the downside of how much it will cost.



With a stalled Green energy movement that seems to have convinced few people that it can actually replace our dependence on fossil fuels, Tom Rand thinks it’s time to move the goal posts. An engineer who is also a venture capitalist who puts his money where his mouth is, his challenge is simple: America can either pioneer green energy as an investment that will pay off for centuries to come, or wind up paying someone else for the same solutions down the road.



That’s why Rand, author of KICK the Fossil Fuel Habit: 10 Clean Technologies to Save Our World, from Greenleaf Book Group Press (www.ecotenpublishing.com), thinks that Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) is one solution that we should not overlook.

“EGS is the game changer, and if pursued with vigor, could contribute in a huge way to getting us off oil,” Rand said. “I see the solution both as an engineer and as a venture capital specialist, because it’s not just about going green -- it’s about going green, replacing our dependency on foreign oil and fossil fuels and becoming an energy solutions provider for the rest of the world. Instead of the world’s biggest consumer of energy, we could also become the world’s largest producer of energy solutions for the world.”

Rand said EGS would not require a massive infrastructure overhaul, or the need to develop vastly complicated new technologies.

“The idea is simple,” he said. “In most of the world, the ground 6 miles underneath our feet is dry, but as hot as the hottest aquifer. That heat can be mined, brought to the surface, and used to generate electricity. If we are serious about wanting to replace coal, we simply drill EGS holes beside every coal plant. Replace the boiler with a heat-exchanger. Keep the rest of the infrastructure. Turn off the furnace. Done.”



Available around the clock, throughout the year, and available almost anywhere, EGS is suitable to be the workhorse of the world’s electrical system — with a constant baseload supply, according to Rand.



“It’s got colossal potential,” he added. “The ground beneath the US could easily provide all its energy needs for the foreseeable future. EGS is the real deal. If the U.S. energy producers spent a combined $1 trillion to refit the plants around the country, they could replace 75 percent of all U.S. electrical production with a solution that would cost consumers much less for their electricity needs.”



How to motivate owners of existing coal assets to drill those holes? “If the capital for the EGS project is provided as low-cost debt”, Rand says, “the cost of servicing that debt can made less than the existing coal bill.” In other words, the owners of coal plants would see EGS as a benefit, not a competitor.



Drilling has started at two locations in Australia, one at Paralana, and a massive second project at Cooper Basin, according to Rand. There is an operational plant in Soultz, France and another one in Landau, Germany that has been in operation since 2007, producing enough power for more than 6,000 homes. Sweden and Japan are also in on the action. The first commercial plant in the US, partly funded by the US Department of Energy, is planned for Desert Peak, Nevada.



“Unlimited energy supply, lower costs to consumers and zero dependence on any other energy source that’s bad for the environment,” Rand said. “That’s all upside, but the real issue for me as an investor is the fact that those who pioneer this solution will be the one to sell it to other energy firms around the world. We can do it here, or buy it from someone else later.”



About Tom Rand



Tom Rand is a Professional Engineer and has Doctorate from the University of Toronto. He currently acts as Lead Cleantech Advisor at the Toronto-based MaRS Institute, which supports the commercialization of Canadian research and development. Before joining MaRS, Tom was a successful entrepreneur, founding Voice Courier Inc. in 1991, a telecommunications software company, leading its expansion to more than 100 employees in three countries, with revenue in excess of $20 million US annually. He sold it in 2005, after leading it for 12 straight profitable years. Tom is currently the Director of VCi Green Funds, a venture firm focused on early-stage low-carbon technologies.

Re: Limitless Renewable Energy Exists Under Our Feet

Posted: Fri Sep 24, 2010 1:45 pm
by HONkUS
That is bad ass.

Re: Limitless Renewable Energy Exists Under Our Feet

Posted: Sat Sep 25, 2010 6:32 am
by KnightRid
Curious what happens if we drill 500,000 holes and siphon off the Earth's heat. Something there sounds like a disaster waiting to happen ;)

"cost consumers much less" - umm, right. Companies brag about how much money they make, why would they want to make less money when they dont have to ;) Just look at Apple's ridiculous price points and profit, or Microsoft, or INtel, or.....

Re: Limitless Renewable Energy Exists Under Our Feet

Posted: Sat Sep 25, 2010 10:13 am
by stopthekilling77
I'd think that companies who would make the switch to these kinds of alternate-energy solutions would want to make sure their price points were noticeably lower than their competitors, just to demonstrate that energy saving technology adopting can be profitable even in the short term.

As for the whole holes in the ground thing, all I can say is that we've been pumping oil out of the ground for quite some time, lots of holes in the ground and the Earth hasn't blown up yet, so you could say I'm optimistic :)

Re: Limitless Renewable Energy Exists Under Our Feet

Posted: Sat Sep 25, 2010 11:15 am
by HONkUS
We could always siphon from the Yellowstone Caldera it has heat to spare!! Actually we probably should for the sake of future generations anyway.