Archive for the 'Geothermal Energy' Category
Geothermal heat pumps (GHP) are environmentally benign and represent a large potential for reduction of CO2 emission. The CO2 emission rates depend on the energy efficiency of the equipment as well as the fuel mix and the efficiency of electricity generation.
 The heat pump needs auxiliary power to accomplish the temperature rise needed in the system. This power, if supplied by renewable energy source like geothermal, then the amount of CO2 emission will be near zero. On the other hand if energy supply is from fossil fuels, then there will be CO2 emission but the amount of CO2 emitted will be lower by several factors compared to conventional energy source used for space heating and cooling.     Â
The average CO2 emission associated with generation of electricity is estimated to be 0.953 kg CO2/kWh ( coal based power plants) while geothermal power plants emit  0.893 kg CO2/MWhr. Electrically driven heat pump reduces the CO2 emission by 45% compared with an oil fired boiler and 33% compared with a gas fired boiler. The total CO2 reduction potential of heat pumps has been estimated to be 1.2 billion tonnes per year or about 6% of the global emission.
 In India, 33 % of electricity  ( coal based power) is utilized by the building sector (commercial and domestic ). A major amount is spent for space cooling, refrigeration and hot water supply. This amounts to emission of 234 x 109 kg CO2. If India utilizes  G H Ps (low enthalpy geothermal sources), so much of CO2 emission can be reduced.
“One of India’s proudest accomplishments has been achieving self-sufficiency in food production and that the country produces a wide variety of agricultural products at prices that are at or below world values in most casesâ€- states the office of the agricultural affairs of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). This is true and India can capture the world market if it utilizes the available geothermal resources for increasing the shelf life of these vegetables and earn huge foreign exchange. The dehydrated agricultural products are expensive since their price is linked to the thermal power cost generated from fossil fuels. The cost can be curt drastically if geothermal resource is used for such purposes. In the entire Europe, Latin American Countries and USA, dehydration of agricultural produce is a multi-million dollar business. For more details on how India an gain ……..read the attached article in GeoHeat Bull 2001
In a single sentence of a speech to the Royal Society, in London, in 1988, Margaret Thatcher succinctly connected science to the creation of social wealth when she said: “the value of Faraday’s work today must be higher than the capitalization of all the shares on the stock exchange.†Add a few other examples of the work of scientists that has transformed society, such as the Green Revolution in world agriculture, the transistor revolution that opened closed societies to change and the biomedical revolution set off by molecular biology, and the benefits of science to society take on real meaning. The Earth sciences have a unique role in this regard, which was underscored by the twentieth-century US historian Will Durant when he is said to have cautioned: “Civilization exists by geological consent, subject to change without notice.†Today, Durant might add a few new vulnerabilities faced by civilization, which I comment on later in this article…………………..Earth scientists should be proud of the contributions to society they are making in the course of applying and advancing their science. The wider application of old knowledge still serves many purposes, including lessening the destruction of natural disasters. The latest challenge is to apply the new understanding of our planet that has been uncovered by research to halt and reverse the environmental damage inflicted by humankind. In  ‘Nature’  January 2008 by Frank Press, President emeritus of the US National Academy of Sciences and Institute Professor emeritus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Coal drives Indian economy. Coal mining started in 1774 with total production of about 6 million tones per year. The current production is greater than 286 million tones. Raniganj coal field is the largest coal mines in India. Like any other coal mines in the world, coal fire in Raniganj is very common. This is true with  other coal mines in the country as well. For example, several coal seams in Jharkhand and Bihar are burning underground. Coal mine fires are due to primary combustion when oxygen and water are introduced through cracks and unsealed shafts. These coal fires continue through several years Most underground coal fires exhibit smoldering combustion and may only involve relatively small amounts of coal capable of burning in the presence of small amount (2%) of oxygen.  To give an example of the magnitude of this hazard, in USA there are nearly 600 coal mine fires burning over a period of 80 years. Other under ground coal mines that are burning is located in Russia and in several east European countries.  These fires are located at shallow depth and the depth in many cased do not go beyond 400-500 m. Till now this heat energy available is not put to use. Heat exchanger technology commonly used in geothermal power generation can easily be adopted in regions where under ground coal mine fire is common and perennial. Continuous heat source from burning coal seams underground will provide continuous electric supply. This method controls underground coal fires, controls CO2 emission and generate electric power to million rural homes. We have the know how and need will to implement it!!
Wastewater treatment plants are an important component of urban cities. With exponential industrial and population growth, the volume of material these plants have to accommodate in future will grow by several orders of magnitude. This amounts to consumption of large amount of fossil fuels based power. Escalation of fossil fuel cost is a deterrent to many wastewater treatment plants. Heat pump and heat exchanger technologies that is commonly adopted in geothermal industry can be integrated with wastewater treatment plants to implement CDM in several urban cities and make cities green for the future generation.
34 2008 Lake Hussain Sagar Environ Pollu Control J 11, 5 July 2008 14 19
Green Power Technology to Clean the Hussain Sagar Lake and support its neighborhood energy utility†in “Technology Update†Environmental Pollution Jour., July-Aug 2008
What people said at WGC 2010
At the World Geothrmal Congress 2010 held at Bali, several people across the world were interviewed. Here is what they said.
Future growth of electric power
“â€The world net electricity demand is going to increase by a factor of two from 2004 to 2030 and the demand of electricity is expected to rise from the present 16,424 TWh to 30,364 TWh in 2030 (EIA 2007). This demand is expected to grow at the rate of 3.5% in the non-OECD  countries while in the OECD countries it is expected to grow at the rate of 1.3%. This indicates that the demand will be greater in the developing countries and electricity generation in the developing countries will increase by several folds relative to the industrialized countries. Thus the developing countries are the future primary emitters of large volumes of CO2 and other greenhouse gases from fossil fuel based power plants.â€â€
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“””………………………… However, at the recently held World Geothermal Congress 2010, in Bali, an excellent concept paper entitled “Can Geological Radioactive Waste Disposal Sites Be Used as EGS Sites? Was presented that attracted several scientists across the world. If this method is perfected, world can get adequate power at affordable cost and keep the high level waste safely under control.
 Together with EGS could this be the ultimate solution to control climate change and power millions?? ……..how is this…watch  for more news on this……………………..”” was the news on 27th May 2010.
Here’s the  newsÂ