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    Cape Station, future home of an enhanced geothermal power plant, in Utah

    (www.gatesnotes.com)
    177 points mooreds | 29 comments | 06 Sep 25 20:26 UTC | HN request time: 0.62s | source | bottom
    1. filenox ◴[06 Sep 25 21:08 UTC] No.45152845[source]▶
    Most wells at Cape Station are between 8,000 and 9,000 feet deep, and the deepest one extends a mind-blowing 15,000 feet below the surface. That is about the depth you'd get to if you stacked 50 Statues of Liberty on top of each other!

    For those who prefer a less American-centric metric: 8,000–9,000 feet is approximately 2.5 kilometers. 15,000 feet is about 4.5 kilometers — roughly the height of 14 Eiffel Towers stacked on top of each other!

    replies(8): >>45152870 #>>45152917 #>>45152918 #>>45153009 #>>45153089 #>>45153746 #>>45153942 #>>45154203 #
    2. divbzero ◴[06 Sep 25 21:11 UTC] No.45152870[source]▶
    That’s close to the deepest geothermal wells which are about 5 km deep:

    https://en.renovablesverdes.com/iceland-is-drilling-the-deep...

    https://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202411/07/WS672c6803a310f...

    3. ajkjk ◴[06 Sep 25 21:17 UTC] No.45152917[source]▶
    It's so silly to use statues of liberty as a metric when nobody really knows how tall it is either (famously it's a lot smaller than people expect).
    replies(8): >>45152999 #>>45153019 #>>45153127 #>>45153285 #>>45153345 #>>45153862 #>>45154089 #>>45154603 #
    4. Animats ◴[06 Sep 25 21:17 UTC] No.45152918[source]▶
    > 8,000–9,000 feet is approximately 2.5 kilometers.

    The usual value for the geothermal gradient is 25 to 30 degrees C per kilometer. So at 2.5km, in most locations they might be able to get boiling water, but not superheated steam. Most of the geothermal enthusiasts are talking about needing to go down 4 to 12 kilometers. Is there something special about the geology at this site?

    replies(3): >>45152991 #>>45153033 #>>45153171 #
    5. AnimalMuppet ◴[06 Sep 25 21:25 UTC] No.45152991[source]▶
    I couldn't see anything that said, but... probably.

    Beaver County, Utah, has at least one hot spring, and I suspect more than that. I'm pretty sure that the location for this project was not chosen at random.

    replies(1): >>45153610 #
    6. catlifeonmars ◴[06 Sep 25 21:26 UTC] No.45152999[source]▶
    AU would have been the most universal measurement.
    7. apitman ◴[06 Sep 25 21:27 UTC] No.45153009[source]▶
    Both made by the French
    8. pwython ◴[06 Sep 25 21:28 UTC] No.45153019[source]▶
    I'm actually shocked how big the Eiffel Tower is.

    https://www.size-explorer.com/en/compare/buildings/eiffel+to...

    replies(1): >>45153383 #
    9. metalman ◴[06 Sep 25 21:29 UTC] No.45153033[source]▶
    likely it is hot, porous rock that is capped in such a way that injected water will heat to the super critical point for water , or water exists as a super critical fluid there already
    10. yread ◴[06 Sep 25 21:37 UTC] No.45153089[source]▶
    > 4.5 kilometers — roughly the height of 14 Eiffel Towers stacked on top of each other!

    Or about one Mont Blanc from sea level

    11. rplnt ◴[06 Sep 25 21:41 UTC] No.45153127[source]▶
    The idea is you assume it with the base while they only used the statue itself, making whatever they are measuring look more impressive.
    replies(1): >>45153797 #
    12. jandrewrogers ◴[06 Sep 25 21:47 UTC] No.45153171[source]▶
    The site is part of the largest high-quality geothermal basin in the world. It is larger than most countries, encompassing almost the entirety of Nevada and large parts of adjacent States. The geothermal potential of the region is enormous, even just using classic geothermal technology.

    The US has long been the world's leading producer of geothermal power, mostly generated from this basin.

    replies(1): >>45153525 #
    13. daedrdev ◴[06 Sep 25 22:04 UTC] No.45153285[source]▶
    Football fields, despite being a meme, are very easy for Americans to visualize
    replies(2): >>45153500 #>>45154007 #
    14. Tempest1981 ◴[06 Sep 25 22:10 UTC] No.45153345[source]▶
    Helpful but pointless metrics:

    1 Statue of Liberty (including foundation) is roughly 1 American football field (excluding end zones)

    1 Eiffel Tower is around 3 Statues of Liberty (each with foundation)... which is almost 1600 bananas

    replies(1): >>45157271 #
    15. daemonologist ◴[06 Sep 25 22:16 UTC] No.45153383{3}[source]▶
    It was the tallest freestanding structure in France from 1889 to 2004 (when it was surpassed by one of the pillars of the Millau Viaduct; it's still the second-tallest). Must have been absolutely mind blowing at ~312m when it was new - the record was around 150m for centuries before it.
    16. defrost ◴[06 Sep 25 22:30 UTC] No.45153500{3}[source]▶
    Internationally ambiguous though, the world at large equates football with FIFA and Australians picture something much larger with more foot to ellipsoid than a tiny US handegg court.
    17. toomuchtodo ◴[06 Sep 25 22:34 UTC] No.45153525{3}[source]▶
    Any resources on total energy potential in the basin you recommend?
    18. Animats ◴[06 Sep 25 22:48 UTC] No.45153610{3}[source]▶
    Found a geothermal potential map of the US.[1] Utah is in a different basin, but Colorado has a nice big hot spot.

    It's not a fully renewable resource. It's possible to pull out too much heat too and deplete the resource. The entire geothermal heating of the planet is only 50 terawatts, which seems big, but it's spread over 500 million square kilometers. Or 100KW/km^2, which is not much. Solar is orders of magnitude larger.

    [1] https://www.britannica.com/science/geothermal-energy

    19. realityfactchex ◴[06 Sep 25 23:09 UTC] No.45153746[source]▶
    Actually, 3 miles means a lot more to Americans than 15,000 feet, much like your 2.5 kilometers.

    And 50 football fields would mean a lot more, to less measurement-aware Americans.

    20. thaumasiotes ◴[06 Sep 25 23:17 UTC] No.45153797{3}[source]▶
    I think the idea is that nobody has any sense, even a very rough one, of how tall the Statue of Liberty might be. It's not like you ever see it in person, and if you did most of it would be in perspective, which ruins your chances of determining its size.

    Most people have enough trouble believing that their foot is the same length as their forearm. You never see your feet close up, either.

    replies(1): >>45153959 #
    21. checkyoursudo ◴[06 Sep 25 23:32 UTC] No.45153862[source]▶
    One statue of liberty (Liberty Enlightening the World, Liberty Island, NYC) is approximately 4 times the size of one statue of liberty (Liberty Enlightening the World replica, Île aux Cygnes, Paris).

    Easy peasy.

    22. ◴[06 Sep 25 23:48 UTC] No.45153942[source]▶
    23. 3eb7988a1663 ◴[06 Sep 25 23:50 UTC] No.45153959{4}[source]▶
    Whelp, I just had to put my foot onto my arm, so point made.
    24. rascul ◴[07 Sep 25 00:02 UTC] No.45154007{3}[source]▶
    Canadian football fields are bigger
    replies(1): >>45154211 #
    25. adrianmonk ◴[07 Sep 25 00:16 UTC] No.45154089[source]▶
    It's probably done because Statues of Liberty is the ultimate "freedom unit".
    26. _DeadFred_ ◴[07 Sep 25 00:34 UTC] No.45154203[source]▶
    The Statue of Liberty was made by France. This IS us Americans trying to use less American-centric units of measure.
    27. _DeadFred_ ◴[07 Sep 25 00:36 UTC] No.45154211{4}[source]▶
    I'll have you know my Canadian friends have told me it's OK, American football fields are average sized (definitely not less than average).
    28. lostlogin ◴[07 Sep 25 01:43 UTC] No.45154603[source]▶
    Metric? That unit of measure must surely be imperial?
    29. mooreds ◴[07 Sep 25 11:30 UTC] No.45157271{3}[source]▶
    Wow, so the deepest well is about 27k bananas deep. Amazing!