[tt] Independent: Greener power to the people: the real energy alternative?

[Randall Webmail]

From: Jef <jeffrey at visioncollective.org>
Date: Wednesday, June 4, 2008 12:57
Subject: Re: [tt] Independent: Greener power to the people: the real	energy alternative?
To: tt at postbiota.org

> Randall Webmail wrote:
> >
> > So why is this free energy not being exploited?
> >   
> A simple search in Wikipedia under "geothermal power" will 
> reveal all.  That is my gift to you, use your newfound knowledge of basic 
> search engines for the benefit of mankind, and I pray not for evil.

The <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geothermal_power> page does not answer my question, other than to say that practical geothermal wells cost in the tens of millions of dollars, and also "A 2006 report by MIT, that took into account the use of Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS), concluded that it would be affordable to generate 100 GWe (gigawatts of electricity) or more by 2050 in the United States alone, for a maximum investment of 1 billion US dollars in research and development over 15 years.[11]

The MIT report calculated the world's total EGS resources to be over 13,000 ZJ. Of these, over 200 ZJ would be extractable, with the potential to increase this to over 2,000 ZJ with technology improvements - sufficient to provide all the world's energy needs for several millennia.[11]"

The MIT report is at <http://geothermal.inel.gov/publications/future_of_geothermal_energy.pdf>.

A billion R&D bucks for 100 GW of electricity?   And HOW much are we pissing away in Mesopotamia?