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EGTP Institute~ Expanding Geothermal Technology and Policy

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EGTP Institute~ Expanding Geothermal Technology and Policy

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Our company works to expand and advocate for policy supporting geothermal incentives as well as improving the efficiency and expansion of geothermal technologies. We want to work to generate and export more geothermal energy within the California state lines to power both the state itself, as well as the rest of the US by exportation and further advancements. California already generates 79% of geothermal power in the US, but it has the potential to nearly double the amount it is currently generating. We believe that, with the help of our company, we can utilize geothermal energy to power the nation.

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a quick, 2 minute long synopsis of how geothermal heat and electricity are generated:

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A generalized schematic of a Geothermal Power Plant

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Currently, geothermal energy is comparatively more expensive per kWh than more popular sources like Solar and Wind energy. As states and cities across the US set more ambitious goals for a cleaner electric grid, geothermal energy is becoming more attractive as a potential power source. Typically, the feasibility of geothermal energy depends on the site location; they rely on “hot spots” where high-temperature fluid close to the crust is easily accessible. Many of these hot spots are concentrated in the West Coast.

Geothermal plants can generate emissions-free, renewable electricity around the clock. This makes it an attractive option for climate-friendly energy that is not intermittent. The Department of Energy released a report last year finding that if technology improves, U.S. geothermal capacity could grow to up to 60,000 megawatts by 2050. Since 2045 is the goal for California to reach 100% climate-friendly electricity, and most of the potential for geothermal energy is concentrated along the West Coast, this means that California has a lot to gain from improved geothermal technologies, especially considering the lithium recovery potential in the Salton Sea region.

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Generation of geothermal electricity

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How a Geothermal Power Plant Generates Electricity

In this article we are going to look closer at the technology behind geothermal electricity, or in other words, how we can convert geothermal energy to electrical energy.

There is currently only 10,715 MW geothermal power installed across 24 different countries (May 2010), just a tiny fraction of the World's consumption of electricity. The upper estimate of our geothermal resources reveals that the total potential is more than adequate to supply humanity with energy.

This article is not about Geothermal Heating and Cooling Systems for Home Use (coming soon), which is an entirely different approach to extract geothermal energy than electricity generation. If you don't know what geothermal energy is, take a look at How Can We Use Geothermal Energy? and then come back and read this article.

How is Geothermal Energy Converted to Electricity?
There are several different main types of geothermal plants:
What these types of geothermal power plants all have in common is that they use steam turbines to generate electricity. This approach is very similar to other thermal power plants using other sources of energy than geothermal.

Water or working fluid is heated (or used directly incase of geothermal dry steam power plants), and then sent through a steam turbine where the thermal energy (heat) is converted to electricity with a generator through a phenomenon called electromagnetic induction. The next step in the cycle is cooling the fluid and sending it back to the heat source.

Water that has been seeping into the underground over time has gained heat energy from the geothermal reservoirs. There no need for additional heating, as you would expect with other thermal power plants. Heating boilers are not present in geothermal steam power plants and no heating fuel is used.

Production wells (red on the illustrations) are used to lead hot water/steam from the reservoirs and into the power plant.

Rock catchers are in place to make sure that only hot fluids is sent to the turbine. Rocks can cause great damage to steam turbines.

Injection wells (blue on the illustrations) ensure that the water that is drawn up from the production wells returns to the geothermal reservoir where it regains the thermal energy (heat) that we have used to generate electricity.

Depending on the state of the water (liquid or vapor) and its temperature, different types of power plants are used for different geothermal reservoirs. Most geothermal power plants extract water, in its vapor or liquid form, from the reservoirs somewhere in the temperature-range 100-320°C (220-600°F).

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Geothermal Dry Steam Power Plants
This type of geothermal power plant was named dry steam since water water that is extracted from the underground reservoirs has to be in its gaseous form (water-vapor).
Geothermal steam of at least 150°C (300°F) is extracted from the reservoirs through the production wells (as we would do with all geothermal power plant types), but is then sent directly to the turbine. Geothermal reservoirs that can be exploited by geothermal dry steam power plants are rare.

Dry steam is the oldest geothermal power plant type. The first one was constructed in Larderello, Italy, in 1904. The Geysers, 22 geothermal power plants located in California, is the only example of geothermal dry steam power plants in the United States.

Geothermal Flash Steam Power Plants

Geothermal flash steam power plants uses water at temperatures of at least 182°C (360°F). The term flash steam refers the process where high-pressure hot water is flashed (vaporized) into steam inside a flash tank by lowering the pressure. This steam is then used to drive around turbines.

Flash steam is today's most common power plant type. The first geothermal power plant that used flash steam technology was the Wairakei Power station in New Zealand, which was built already in 1958:

Geothermal Binary Cycle Power Plants

The binary cycle power plant has one major advantage over flash steam and dry steam power plants: The water-temperature can be as low as 57°C (135°F).

By using a working fluid (binary fluid) with a much lower boiling temperature than water, thermal energy in the reservoir water flashes the working fluid into steam, which then is used to generate electricity with the turbine. The water coming from the geothermal reservoirs through the production wells is never in direct contact with the working fluid. After the some of its thermal energy is transferred to the working fluid with a heat exchanger, the water is sent back to the reservoir through the injection wells where it regains it's thermal energy.

These power plants have a thermal efficiency rate of only 10-13%. However, geothermal binary cycle power plants enable us, through lowering temperature requirements, to harness geothermal energy from reservoirs that with a dry- or a flash steam power plant wouldn't be possible.

First successful geothermal binary cycle project took place in Russia in 1967.

Cogeneration (Combined Heat and Power)

Depending on what type of geothermal power plant, location and various other factors, the thermal efficiency rate is not more than 10-23%. Technically, low efficiency rates do not affect operational costs of a geothermal power plant, as it would with power plants that are reliant on fuels to heat a working fluid.

Electricity generation does suffer from low thermal efficiency rates, but the byproducts, exhaust heat and warm water, have many useful purposes. By not only generating power, but also taking advantage of the thermal energy in the byproducts, overall energy efficiency increases. This is what we call geothermal cogeneration or combined heat and power (CHP). Here are some good examples of this:

District heating

Greenhouses

Timber mills

Hot springs and bathing facilities

Agriculture

Snow and ice melting

Desalination (processes that remove salt and other minerals from saline water)

Various other industrial processes

How is geothermal energy transported? It is not a surprise that the electricity that is generated with geothermal power plants is transported in the same way as you would with any other power plant (or a wind or solar farm for that matter): Voltage is increased to minimize losses and the current is sent onto the electrical grid. Transporting heat over long distances, as you would with CHP, requires a heavily insulated piping system, which is a significant addition to costs.

Above is a picture of Blue Lagoon geothermal spa that uses warm wastewater from Svartsengi Power Station in the background.

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How a Geothermal Power Plant Generates Electricity - Energy Informative

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In this article we are going to look closer at the technology behind geothermal electricity, or in other words, how we can convert geothermal energy to electrical energy. There is currently only 10,715 MW geothermal power installed across 24 different countries (May 2010), just a tiny fraction of the World's consumption of electricity.

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Open Loop systems use bodies of external (surface or ground) water as the heat medium while
Closed Loop systems use antifreeze submerged in water in tubing to be recycled at depth within a single closed loop that doesn't interact with any external solution.

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Problems with Geothermal: Surface Instability

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Problems with Geothermal: Surface Instability

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Construction of geothermal power plants has the potential to cause surface instability and trigger earthquakes. Conventional geothermal power plant construction involves drilling hot rock that contains trapped water or steam in its pores spaces and natural fractures. When these fractures are intersected by a drilled hole, the trapped water erupts as steam due to an instant drop in pressure.

The drilling itself may not trigger earthquakes, but the rupturing of steam and subsequent return of the used water to the hot water reservoir could. The cycle leads to instabilities along fracture lines that might result in an earthquake. One way to mitigate risk is to build the plant far enough away from a fault line. Unfortunately most geothermal hot spots are close to geologic fault zones where there is a higher risk of earthquakes. Safer methods of drilling will be an area of focus for our research so that we can encourage the expansion of geothermal energy.

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Problems with Geothermal: Environmental Impacts

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Problems with Geothermal: Environmental Impacts

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A life cycle analysis of most geothermal systems shows that the total equivalent carbon emissions are 95% less than coal and 92% less than gas. In closed-loop geothermal systems, gases removed from the well are not exposed to the atmosphere and are injected back into the ground after giving up their heat, so air emissions are minimal. The small quantities of gases emitted from geothermal power plants aren't created during power production because there's no combustion. These gases are natural, minor constituents of all geothermal reservoirs, that would eventually vent to the atmosphere  regardless, although at much slower rates.

Most geothermal facilities have closed-loop water systems, in which extracted water is pumped directly back into the geothermal reservoir after it has been used for heat or electricity production. In such systems, the water is contained within steel well casings cemented to the surrounding rock. There have been no reported cases of water contamination from geothermal sites in the United States.

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Current areas of research for geothermal energy include mineral recovery from geothermal brines, use with desalination systems, and geothermal heat pumps. 

Should mineral recovery become more economically feasible, it could have a beneficial impact on other industrial and energy applications such as battery storage and electrical components. In this way improving geothermal technologies could have secondary benefits. Lithium is especially valuable due to its role in solar, wind, batteries, and energy efficient appliances. Recovery of these reserves could help make both geothermal power and other energy technologies cheaper and more accessible, leading to greater energy security in the US.

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In addition to using geothermal sources for energy production, the hot and cold water in an aquifer can be used to regulate temperatures in a building. In the Summer, when the weather is hot, the groundwater is comparatively cool, and can be used to cool off the building. Similarly, in winter, warmer groundwater can be used to heat the buildings. Considering the amount of energy that is used in building HVAC processes annually, geothermal sources represent a significant amount of potential energy savings, especially for medium-large sized building complexes.

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With the use of geothermal spots to make energy from the hot fluid and steam, it leaves the lower temperature spots not able to be converted into anything useful until recently. There are tests being done to use the lower temperature brines from the Earth and create fresh water from them by the use of Membrane Distillation. The hot water comes in and heats a new water source to remove all pathogens and minerals from the water to create fresh drinking water. The new fresh water then gets cooled and passes a mineralizer before being sent out into pipes to fill the demand for the freshwater.

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Incentivising the expansion of geothermal is essential to lowering the costs of implementing it. Lobbying for government incentives such as tax deductions for Geothermal applications, especially in locations along the West Coast, could be one example, as well as subsidies for public construction projects that have a plan to incorporate geothermal energy. Other ways that the government can help instigate geothermal construction is by increasing funding for research, development, and demonstration; streamlining geothermal permitting plans and providing financial incentives to ease geothermal into the market.

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For this plan we are seeking a grant allocation of $64 million. Of this allotted grant, 90% of the $64 million will be used to conduct research on new technologies and processes to improve the efficiency of various geothermal systems. With the remaining 10% of the grant, we look to help with tax incentives, permitting, and other policy initiatives to allow for the creation of new geothermal energy sites.

Total funding: $64,000,000.00 USD.

Broken Down in terms of a percentage per sector in next slide.

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Includes research into how minerals can be recovered in conjunction with geothermal extraction, in order to offset the cost of initial construction, through predominately lithium extraction. Looking into how to do this sustainably and is of crucial for long-term expansion of geothermal systems. Depending on location, essential minerals for technology and storage could be extracted.

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Increasing ease of Installation construction/ increasing efficiency: 

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Increasing ease of Installation construction/ increasing efficiency: 

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As the largest category, this has several points of focus, in terms of both mitigation and efficiency. These categories must be researched and these areas need to be developed/ trouble shot while expanding geothermal energy:
~Environmental destruction associated with construction
~Fault/ground stability with operation and construction and
maintenance
~Gases released during operation, and how to create a closed looped
system based on returning spent fluid into the earth to mitigate
greenhouse gases released
~Groundwater usage, using less water, and lessening impacts
~Underground heat mitigation to ensure adequate steam power

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Looking into ways to utilize and improve existing technology on a larger scale to desalinate the water produced by geothermal that is too COLD for steam so that it can be redistributed as drinking water; currently the technology to do this is less intensive than reverse osmosis, and it could offset some of the water used for this process.

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This involves researching the best locations for different geothermal systems, attempting to identify spots suited for large scale energy production, micro-scale energy production, heating & cooling buildings, and other applications. This will also involve identifying minerals present in brine as well as concentrations. Lastly this will involve researching ways to improve surface stability when during initial construction and drilling processes.

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One of the biggest reasons that geothermal is not cheap is because we have placed all of our governmental subsidies into oil and fossil fuel power. The argument for geothermal is that drilling is expensive: Drilling for anything is expensive, and that includes oil. The difference is that oil wells run out, and pollutes the earth when used, or spilled. Geothermal plants last longer, and are a clean and renewable source. Lobbying for these subsidies and grants to make installation mainstream is essential for the development of this energy source.

A lot of the issues with geothermal energy are political. Organizing to promote and vote to expand this source of energy is a positive use of our budget because it allows us to work to put the research into action. Research and data mean nothing if it cannot become integrated into people's lives and become accessible, so expanding acceptance, implementation, and government requirements surrounding geothermal is essential.

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One of the biggest barriers to geothermal sources is getting the permitting passed and money to start and complete the project. Working towards making the process faster and more streamlined would help make construction of sites more feasible. Striking a balance between environmental protection and constructability is crucial.

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Advertising and encouraging public acceptance of Geothermal: 

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Advertising and encouraging public acceptance of Geothermal: 

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A lot of people have no idea what geothermal is, and so it may seem surreal that this energy is not something we have been using already. Spreading positive education and the facts about the research found is important to gaining public acceptance and the public understanding why it is a positive switch, and worth the agreement to pay more in taxes. An important addition to this is holding public forums and receiving community input about how geothermal plants will negatively impact the community, and working together on strategies to overcome these issues.

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The goal of the research is to be able to find new ways to be able to produce electricity from geothermal spots more efficiently. This can start in the way that the geothermal spots are drilled for. Currently the plants need to have access to a high temperature liquid (called brine) which is usually at a depth of 3000 feet or more underground. Improvements in drilling will allow for a large reduction in costs which can range from $30-$50 per foot drilled.

The next research is the creation of energy by the use of steam turbines. Currently geothermal plants use closed and open loop systems to move the brine from the ground to the turbine. With an open loop, the excess steam and gasses are vented back into the atmosphere and the remaining liquid brine is released into ponds, aquifers or surrounding streams after being cooled in a cooling tower. With a closed loop system the cooled brine is sent back into the ground to get reheated by the geothermal spot and be reused in the system, thus mitigating the amount of greenhouse gasses and excess steam vented into the atmosphere. The research we will be focusing on is the use of the closed looped system and improving it to work in conjunction with open loop and desalination plants.

In these underground pockets of brine, there are different types of minerals in the brine. The exact minerals vary by location. In California, one of those minerals is lithium. There has been recent research in the use of separating lithium from the brine before the water gets sent back into the ground to be heated again. By utilizing the new lithium extraction method there will be more lithium available to build more batteries and power storage for the plants. Utilizing this technology could help procure some rare minerals locally and help fund and offset some costs of installation.

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Geothermal energy has the potential to power the nation with the heat that is already being generated from the earth, right below our feet. With the right research and innovation, as well as the right people backing the plan for geothermal, there is no reason why we cannot tap into this local and expansive source of energy on a larger scale. Harnessing this power will lead to a more sustainable society that will prosper off of this source of energy long into the future.