And I’m the only one who can get at it!
One of my favorite movies is "There Will Be Blood". What a wonderful display of greed, what a remarkable showing of hatred, what an amazing insight into the power of natural resources. Made me want to become an oil man. Perhaps I still can become an energy man, of sorts…
A recent article in the LA Times continued the dicussion about companies harnessing pockets of heat within the earth. Investment money is starting to pour in; one researcher used the term "money falling from the sky". Another said it felt like "the new gold rush".
The traditional strategy that has been around for a minute is to find heated steam wells that already exist, and use that steam to turn turbines, etc. Most of the country’s steam megawatts are in CA.
The new hotness continues to be enhanced geothermal systems (EGS). It is the new hotness because it has that potential to allow most of the planet to establish geothermal systems, rather than locations on fault lines with steam wells. Simply dig down a few miles, inject some water in hole, let the core’s temperature turn that water into steam, insert turbine, built a distribution setup, tap in to the grid, and VOILA! Electricity!
Alright, probably not as easy as drilling for oil. But if one or a group was so inclined, could raise some cash, and knew about a nice little pocket of good heat in the earth (like oil prospecting, only easier), they could drill down and create an energy source…With all the money that’s about to flow into this sector, there’s bound to be space for a few creative self starters that can get some cash, put together a small talented team, and just make it happen.
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