Bjorn’s (detailed) presentation and the discussion that followed raised many interesting questions about both the technical workings of geothermal power (and heating) and how it can contribute to and even make “place.” The presentation, in my opinion, focused a little bit too much on how geothermal functions (although some discussion of it was necessary for the audience to understand the potential, the limitations, etc) and not enough on geothermal’s existing and possible connections to design.
Although most of New England – where heating demand is relatively high – has a low “heat flow” (according to the Geothermal Map of the United States on slide 5), western Massachusetts, pockets of New Hampshire, and portions of Maine have a moderate to high level of heat flow. I’m curious as to how cities, states, or private companies in these generally cooler areas have utilized these pockets of untapped energy? In other words, what scale (both in size and heat flow rate) is required for a geothermal energy plant to function economically? In Iceland, high temperature water is carried 27 kilometers from Hengill to the outskirts of Reykjavik. How much energy is lost along the way? This raises the question, what is the optimal range of a geothermal district heating system?
As of 2007, only 0.349 quadrillion BTUs come from geothermal energy in the U.S. – or just 0.344% of the U.S.’s total energy. Interestingly, this is over 4 times the amount of energy we got from solar/PV power and is about the same as we got from wind power (0.341 quadrillion BTUs). It would be interesting to graph how these different energy sources ( on slide 8 ) have grown or shrunk in absolute terms and as percentages of our total energy use and to compare federal (and perhaps, state) subsidies for these different forms of energy. In the Boise City Geothermal District, the rates have been fixed at 70% of the price of natural gas. What is the true cost of this geothermal power and why tie itself to the price of natural gas? Although it may be difficult to compare the costs of a 100MWt solar PV system with a geothermal system of the same size with a wind power system of the same size, is this not what “green” cities and “environmentally conscious” states have to decide between? Take Colorado, which has good wind power, solar power, and geothermal power potential (see maps below) – what is the most cost efficient way for the state to get power? If a comparison on a dollars per watt basis isn’t doable, providing the upfront costs of the different systems would at least give a sense of what the “competition” offers.
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A goal of the presentation was to explore how geothermal can influence design or make “place.” From the examples provided (and what little I know), it seems that geothermal is most often employed to create places for recreation and tourism (hot springs, spas like the Blue Lagoon, and the artificial beach in Reykjavik for example). What do these places look like and how do they incorporate and showcase the use of geothermal energy in the design? In the presentation, it was stated that the Boise Warm Springs Water District “made Warm Springs Avenue a high class neighborhood” – but why and how? What is “high class” about it? Did it attract development to the area or gentrify it or what?
I’m interested in how the use of a geothermal heat pump system on the individual household level influences the design of the house? It was mentioned in the presentation that a geothermal heat pump system could be retrofitted to any house – but is there some sort of “geothermal house” that, by design, either takes advantage of natural heat flows or is integrated with the geothermal heat pump? I’m imagining a house built with geothermal-energy-retaining materials or a house with the cooled/heated water pipes running underneath the floors, the walls, all over the house – perhaps the pipes could be on display and change color in response to the temperature of the water running through them!
Although most of New England – where heating demand is relatively high – has a low “heat flow” (according to the Geothermal Map of the United States on slide 5), western Massachusetts, pockets of New Hampshire, and portions of Maine have a moderate to high level of heat flow. I’m curious as to how cities, states, or private companies in these generally cooler areas have utilized these pockets of untapped energy? In other words, what scale (both in size and heat flow rate) is required for a geothermal energy plant to function economically? In Iceland, high temperature water is carried 27 kilometers from Hengill to the outskirts of Reykjavik. How much energy is lost along the way? This raises the question, what is the optimal range of a geothermal district heating system?
As of 2007, only 0.349 quadrillion BTUs come from geothermal energy in the U.S. – or just 0.344% of the U.S.’s total energy. Interestingly, this is over 4 times the amount of energy we got from solar/PV power and is about the same as we got from wind power (0.341 quadrillion BTUs). It would be interesting to graph how these different energy sources (on slide 8) have grown or shrunk in absolute terms and as percentages of our total energy use and to compare federal (and perhaps, state) subsidies for these different forms of energy. In the Boise City Geothermal District, the rates have been fixed at 70% of the price of natural gas. What is the true cost of this geothermal power and why tie itself to the price of natural gas? Although it may be difficult to compare the costs of a 100MWt solar PV system with a geothermal system of the same size with a wind power system of the same size, is this not what “green” cities and “environmentally conscious” states have to decide between? Take Colorado, which has good wind power, solar power, and geothermal power potential (see maps below) – what is the most cost efficient way for the state to get power? If a comparison on a dollars per watt basis isn’t doable, providing the upfront costs of the different systems would at least give a sense of what the “competition” offers.
