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

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177 points mooreds | 7 comments | 06 Sep 25 20:26 UTC | HN request time: 0.536s | source | bottom
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giggyhack ◴[06 Sep 25 21:16 UTC] No.45152912[source]▶
I have been following this company and several others (Quaise, Fervo, Sage) in the EGS Space for a little bit now, and I think we are on the cusp of a huge breakthrough in baseload renewable energy. This site in Utah is one of the largest test cases that expands the use of EGS to a much broader area than just a few geothermal hot spots. Prices are dropping dramatically, and these things are moving quickly beyond the R&D phase. There is a world where every major data center across the Western US has its own base load power supply that has essentially no pollution, no footprint, no hazardous waste, and no need for complicated permitting. EGS truly could be a game changer in the world's push to decarbonize. I'm super excited.
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1. skipants ◴[06 Sep 25 21:35 UTC] No.45153074[source]▶
> no pollution, no footprint, no hazardous waste

As a layman, I assume waste heat would still be an issue? Even so I would also assume it's still way less damaging to the environment than everything else.

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2. aDyslecticCrow ◴[06 Sep 25 21:59 UTC] No.45153263[source]▶
I'm not quite sure about that. The earths core should generate the same amount of heat (through gravitational friction and radioactive decay) regardless if we tap it or not. If the heat didn't escape somehow already it would slowly get hotter.

Whaste heat from nuclear or fusion does contribute to earth heating, though insignificant compared to any source pf c02.

But my intuition tells me geothermal wouldn't...

Mm. Actually, water vapor is a potent greenhouse gas; and that's how to covert heat to energy. So mabie it would indeed be significant.

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3. metadat ◴[06 Sep 25 22:08 UTC] No.45153320[source]▶
TFA states the Cape Station plant (created and operated by a company called Fervo) are closed systems - they capture the emissions so no water is wasted or spewed into the environment as steam.

They deserve big props for this innovation and effort, as historically Utah has frequently been been treated as an industrial dumping grounds. The long-term ecological damage and visual eyesores due to strip mining, chemical dumping and other pollution is significant.

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4. bell-cot ◴[06 Sep 25 22:22 UTC] No.45153438[source]▶
Oh, yes. Especially if you don't have a generous supply of fresh water, to use in your cooling towers. For example:

https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2014/02/f7/geotherma...

5. skipants ◴[06 Sep 25 22:22 UTC] No.45153440{3}[source]▶
Well, that's just neat!
6. ACCount37 ◴[07 Sep 25 00:34 UTC] No.45154206[source]▶
Waste heat is always "an issue", but rarely an issue worth caring much about.

Global warming isn't happening due to industrial waste heat - it's happening due to CO2 emissions being a massive leverage for messing with how the planet absorbs and emits heat.

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7. thayne ◴[07 Sep 25 01:58 UTC] No.45154697[source]▶
Although, the more greenhouse gases there are, the worse waste heat is.