{"id":568326,"date":"2010-05-18T09:20:00","date_gmt":"2010-05-18T13:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9864176.post-2861392018637018503"},"modified":"2010-05-18T09:23:07","modified_gmt":"2010-05-18T13:23:07","slug":"geothermal-could-meet-canada%e2%80%99s-power-needs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/568326","title":{"rendered":"Geothermal could meet Canada\u2019s power needs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tyler Hamilton has an article in the Toronto Star about a study into the potential of geothermal energy<\/a> in Canada – Geothermal could meet Canada\u2019s power needs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Canada could technically meet all its electricity needs and dramatically lower greenhouse-gas emissions if it moved aggressively to develop enhanced geothermal power projects, according to the first comprehensive assessment of the country\u2019s deep geothermal resources.<\/p>\n

The study, published online in the Journal of Geophysics and Geoengineering, reports on the potential of using enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) to tap hot temperatures kilometres below the earth\u2019s surface as a way of generating clean electricity.<\/p>\n

It found that the most promising Canadian sites are located in parts of British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan at depths ranging from 3.5 to 6.5 kilometres. Drill deeper, however, and the potential extends right across the country \u2013 including parts of Ontario.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt 10 kilometres we can expect EGS temperatures in the 150 to 200 degrees C range across most of Canada, except some areas of the Canadian shield,\u201d wrote Stephen Grasby, a geologist with the Geological Survey of Canada, and co-author Jacek Majorowicz, an Alberta-based geothermal consultant.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven the widespread distribution of geothermal energy, and the high energy content, the potential geothermal resource in Canada is significant,\u201d they concluded.<\/p>\n

The findings aren\u2019t surprising \u2013 I\u2019ve been pounding on this drum for several years now. But it\u2019s encouraging to finally see it expressed in a peer-reviewed journal. Canada, shamefully, is the only country along the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire that has yet to switch on a conventional geothermal power plant.<\/p>\n

The irony is that Canada is home to several of the continent\u2019s leading geothermal power developers. Problem is they\u2019re mostly developing in Nevada, California, Nicaragua, Iceland, Chile \u2013 everywhere except Canada, where no formal development program exists.<\/p>\n

Maybe now the federal and provincial governments will take the issue more seriously.<\/p>\n

This new Canadian study comes three years after the release of a groundbreaking U.S. study led by experts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Their research suggested EGS in the United States could realistically supply about 100,000 megawatts of power generation capacity by 2050, assuming the proper policies and R&D investments were committed.<\/p>\n

For comparison, 100,000 megawatts \u2013 or 100 gigawatts\u2014is roughly 80 per cent of Canada\u2019s current power generation capacity. It\u2019s about one-twelfth of current U.S. capacity. And the MIT-led group predicted it could be built less expensively than building new nuclear plants or investing in carbon capture and storage technologies for coal plants.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n