Thursday, February 1, 2024

ENGR 470.1001: --Geothermal Energy: The Public and the Politics-- U. OF NEVADA, RENO, SPRING '24

Discussion 1B:

     Geothermal energy lies in the shadow of other forms of renewable energy. How might public and political awareness of geothermal energy be improved? 


     Chapter One is divided into several topics: contrast of nonrenewable vs renewable, geothermal energy distinction, energy and power definitions, and attributes of geothermal in terms of source, emissions and baseloads. 

     In the opening sentence, the author describes geothermal energy as “heat from the Earth that can be harnessed and used for the benefit of society.” Due to the very nature of its complexity and newness, the public may be skeptical of its potential. Political awareness, or lack thereof, is usually associated with the myriad regulations involved in developing any form of energy source. Demand is also an important function of the equation, as illustrated by author David R. Boden’s “duck curve” on page 14. The curve is directly reflected by what Boden calls the “baseload,” although a clear definition of the term depends on overall sources of renewable energy.

     From the above, one might draw a conclusion geothermal energy is more of a semantic issue than one of infrastructure; both can be just as prohibitive for its development. In addition, skepticism by the general public, where the demand lies, might offer a political escape clause in legislation efforts to further its development. 

     Baseload is directly related to infrastructure and the ability of the system to deliver depending on supply and demand; for instance solar during the day, and hydro otherwise. Note on the latter, droughts can create a severe power generation gap when reservoir levels drop below the ability of the dams to generate electricity. Adding to the reservoir problem are agreements that allocate stored water for agricultural purposes, leaving the lakes high and dry. To what degree flexibility (dependability) of any power generation source rates in the equation is debatable, since many are at the mercy of Nature in one way or another through aging or disaster, as seen in Chernobyl (1986)  and Fukushima (2011). 

     Hopefully, the author will clear much of this up beyond just the technical aspects of geothermal development so that the discussion can be better addressed at the end of the semester. 

References: 
 David R. Boden (2016-17), Geologic Fundamentals of Geothermal Energy, Taylor & Francis edition, https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.1201/9781315371436/geologic-fundamentals-geothermal-energy-david-boden
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