Thread: Journey to the Centre

There’s a old riddle that asks ‘What gets bigger by taking more away from it?’ Ans: The hole. Seems like it also gets more interesting. This article speaks of the world’s deepest man made hole.

https://www.treehugger.com/the-world...al-cap-4863210

Temperatures prevented further drilling but along the way they made discoveries, some new and some dispelling of old truths, as well as exposing how little we know of what’s below us.

You don’t hear much about capturing geothermal energy. There’s plenty of warmth down there, just need to transfer it topside. Too bad we couldn’t drill a 12km hole beneath every edifice, control and enable heat. Suspect costs of drilling are exorbitant but new techniques do come along. There may be an environmental impact but no idea what that might be.

Originally Posted by zinjanthropos

There’s a old riddle that asks ‘What gets bigger by taking more away from it?’ Ans: The hole. Seems like it also gets more interesting. This article speaks of the world’s deepest man made hole.

https://www.treehugger.com/the-world...al-cap-4863210

Temperatures prevented further drilling but along the way they made discoveries, some new and some dispelling of old truths, as well as exposing how little we know of what’s below us.

You don’t hear much about capturing geothermal energy. There’s plenty of warmth down there, just need to transfer it topside. Too bad we couldn’t drill a 12km hole beneath every edifice, control and enable heat. Suspect costs of drilling are exorbitant but new techniques do come along. There may be an environmental impact but no idea what that might be.

Capturing geothermal energy is the basis of most domestic heat pump systems. Geothermal Heat, Ground Source Pumps, Renewable Energy Source

[QUOTE=exchemist;631501]

Originally Posted by zinjanthropos

There’s a old riddle that asks ‘What gets bigger by taking more away from it?’ Ans: The hole. Seems like it also gets more interesting. This article speaks of the world’s deepest man made hole.

Capturing geothermal energy is the basis of most domestic heat pump systems. Geothermal Heat, Ground Source Pumps, Renewable Energy Source

I see the odd heat pump here and there when driving around. Is it popular where you are? People here satisfied with nat gas or because of our proximity to Niagara, electricity. I was thinking about geothermal on an industrial scale, supplying cities with heat. I figure it’s too costly to build infrastructure. Still require electricity, no?

[QUOTE=zinjanthropos;631504]

Originally Posted by exchemist

Originally Posted by zinjanthropos

There’s a old riddle that asks ‘What gets bigger by taking more away from it?’ Ans: The hole. Seems like it also gets more interesting. This article speaks of the world’s deepest man made hole.

Capturing geothermal energy is the basis of most domestic heat pump systems. Geothermal Heat, Ground Source Pumps, Renewable Energy Source

I see the odd heat pump here and there when driving around. Is it popular where you are? People here satisfied with nat gas or because of our proximity to Niagara, electricity. I was thinking about geothermal on an industrial scale, supplying cities with heat. I figure it’s too costly to build infrastructure. Still require electricity, no?

Yes, a heat pump uses electricity. But you get several times the energy out that you put in. Domestic heat pump systems are likely to become a lot more widespread, once we have regulations forbidding the use of natural gas to heat newly built houses, which is coming some time in the next decade or so. I've even looked into retrofitting a heat pump to my Victorian house in London, but the costs are too high, as it would mean replacing all the radiators as well (Heat pumps are only efficient if they don't have to raise the temperature of the heat too far, so typically you get a lot of warmish water circulating, rather than a smaller amount of really hot water, as in a conventional gas boiler system. Ideal for underfloor heating, but not much good with the smallish area of conventional radiators. So better for newbuilds than retrofitting.)

I can't see any special advantage in trying to use a heat pump on a city-wide scale. But some towns with access to volcanic, high temperature, heat (e.g. in Iceland, New Zealand), do that already, I think.