The Newberry project, led by Mazama Energy with funding from the U.S. Department of Energy, has successfully created an enhanced geothermal system that circulates water through hard rock at record-breaking temperatures of 331 C.
This project represents a major milestone towards producing geothermal energy from water hotter than 375 C, where water changes to a supercritical state that carries five times more energy than the subcritical water typically circulated in geothermal projects.
I’ve always thought that combining geothermal power with Dutch vertical farming would go a long way towards making much more of Canada agriculturally viable. This would help solve the food security issues experienced in the north and also help with solidifying Arctic sovereignty in a more effective way than military bases, which is to say making a larger human footprint than ~130k people spread across three huge territories viable.
B.C. is particularly blessed with near-surface geothermal resources … One such site is Mount Meager, near Pemberton, where temperatures of 290 C were measured only three kilometres below the surface. In geothermal terms, that is like striking gold.
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Canada has a competitive edge in geothermal energy — one that can truly make us an energy superpower. By deploying our own expertise towards geothermal innovation across our broad spectrum of geological settings, we can unlock vast resources of clean, firm, renewable heat and power. Canadians are already doing this around the world. It’s time to turn this expertise towards our own resources.
But how will this help the oligarchs? /s
It’s even more insane than that. We have a wealth of natural geothermal in some regions, yes. We also have a wealth of tools, expertise, and geography for deep-bore geothermal on the prairies. We’ve already had prototype geothermal plants set up near Kindersley Saskatchewan and a proposed site in southern Saskatchewan. If we had the investment and regulatory framework, we could conceivably never have to burn anything to power or heat our homes again between existing hydro and geothermal power, supplemented with solar and wind. We just don’t because our “leaders” both business and public have no vision or ambition.
They’re instead raging at Rainbow Lake for using geothermal as their energy source.
