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While America sleeps

December 11, 2018 by Denis Pombriant

Part 2 Climate prescription Of the four issues that drive climate change—energy and infrastructure, population, carbon absorption, and water abundance and distribution—it’s tempting to identify “the one” on which all others depend and solve it. But all of the challenges have to be solved together. Like solving a Rubik’s Cube...

EGS, the new hydro-power

November 09, 2018 by Denis Pombriant

I was in a conversation the other day when the topic of hydro-power came up. Under different circumstances, I’d be all over hydro like a cheap suit—in a good way, that is. What’s not to like about hydro? The discussion was over how to make more renewable power and unfortunately,...

Geothermal is everywhere today

October 16, 2017 by Denis Pombriant

Geothermal energy still has a whiff of the exotic because it’s the least understood—or discussed—non-polluting and renewable method for generating sizeable amounts of electricity essential to kicking the fossil fuel habit. Even casual observers get the idea of solar, wind, and even hydroelectric power generation, after all they are for...

Heat mining and power production

September 26, 2017 by Denis Pombriant

One power-generating solution that is both non-intermittent and nonpolluting involves mining (or extracting) heat from the Earth’s crust to generate electricity. According to “The Future of Geothermal Energy—Impact of Enhanced Geothermal Systems on the United States in the 21st Century,” a 2006 study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)...

Engineered Geothermal Systems

September 26, 2017 by Denis Pombriant

Conventional hydrothermal-heat mining relies on three major characteristics. Hydrothermal wells must be hot and their high heat gradients must be within the reach of conventional drilling technology; their rock formations must be porous enough to enable good flow of liquid water through the rock to absorb heat; and they must...

A test case for heat mining

September 26, 2017 by Denis Pombriant

There’s a compelling opportunity presenting itself in Arizona for a low-cost test case for EGS or using heat from the Earth’s crust to generate electricity in a conventional electric plant. The Navajo Generating Station, in Page, Arizona is the West’s largest coal-fired power plant and it is also tailor-made for...