West Virginia Geothermal Maps: Another Energy Bonanza for WV?
No, West Virginia's new "Energy Bonanza" ain't the heat arising from Coal Country water spigots that can, as seen in:
Fracking the Future; "The concern is this: Because modern fracking involves using millions of gallons of water and hundreds of types of chemicals (many of which are trade secrets) to free up natural gas in underground rock formations, there is the potential for this mixture to leak into drinking water supplies. The practice has garnered headlines in Pennsylvania (since, after fracking, some residents) could light their kitchen sink faucets on fire after gas had migrated into drinking water",
be used to roast hot dogs over, subsequent to implementation of the extraordinary practices that must be employed to extract that stinky old Marcellus Shale gas, which the editors of Coal Country newspapers have lately grown so strangely fond of sniffing too much of.
The "Bonanza" is, instead, surprisingly, related to volcanoes.
More properly, it is known as "Geothermal" energy; and, West Virginia, as well as other parts of Appalachia, absolutely unbeknownst to nearly all her citizens, has, though it's pretty well hidden, a great big bunch of it.
Now, we are supposed to be addressing Coal, or Carbon, conversion, and related, technologies in our posts; and, in a way herein, we are.
As we will explain, following excerpts from the initial and following links in this dispatch explaining how West Virginia is sitting on a resource that could enable her to light all the lights on Broadway for the next several thousand, or million, years:
"West Virginia Geothermal; A Large Green Energy Source Beneath Northeastern West Virginia
Southern Methodist University, 2010
New research produced by Southern Methodist University's Geothermal Laboratory, funded by a grant from Google.org, suggests that the temperature of the Earth beneath the state of West Virginia is significantly higher than previously estimated and capable of supporting commercial baseload geothermal energy production.
Geothermal energy is the use of the Earth's heat to produce heat and electricity. "Geothermal is an extremely reliable form of energy, and it generates power 24/7, which makes it a baseload source like coal or nuclear," said David Blackwell, Hamilton Professor of Geophysics and Director of the SMU Geothermal Laboratory.
The SMU Geothermal Laboratory has increased its estimate of West Virginia's geothermal generation potential to 18,890 megawatts, assuming a conservative 2 percent thermal recovery rate. The new estimate represents a 75 percent increase over estimates in MIT's 2006 "The Future of Geothermal Energy" report and exceeds the state's total current generating capacity, primarily coal based, of 16,350 megawatts."
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We could generate a big ole' bunch of juice with it, in other words; and, we could never, in realistic terms, use it all up - which would allow us to conserve our Coal for use in, perhaps, more critical applications.
More on SMU's study can be read in:
Geothermal Energy: Project Reveals Large, Green Energy Source in Coal Country
The SMU Geothermal Laboratory has increased its estimate of West Virginia’s geothermal generation potential to 18,890 megawatts (assuming a conservative 2% thermal recovery rate). The new estimate represents a 75 percent increase over estimates in MIT’s 2006 “The Future of Geothermal Energy” report and exceeds the state’s total current generating capacity, primarily coal based, of 16,350 megawatts.
Researchers from SMU’s Geothermal Laboratory will present a detailed report on the discovery at the 2010 Geothermal Resources Council annual meeting in Sacramento, Oct. 24-27.
A summary of the report is available online.
The high temperature zones beneath West Virginia revealed by the new mapping are concentrated in the eastern portion of the state. Starting at depths of 4.5 km (greater than 15,000 feet), temperatures reach over 150°C (300°F), which is hot enough for commercial geothermal power production.
Traditionally, commercial geothermal energy production has depended on high temperatures in existing subsurface reservoirs to produce electricity, requiring unique geological conditions found almost exclusively in tectonically active regions of the world, such as the western United States. Newer technologies and drilling methods can be used to develop resources in wider ranges of geologic conditions.
Three non-conventional geothermal resources that can be developed in areas with little or no tectonic activity or volcanism such as West Virginia are:
- Low-Temperature Hydrothermal — Energy is produced from areas with naturally occurring high fluid volumes at temperatures ranging from 80°C (165°F) to 150°C (300°F) using advanced binary cycle technology. Low-Temperature systems have been developed in Alaska, Oregon, and Utah.
- Geopressure and Co-produced Fluids Geothermal – Oil and/or natural gas produced together with hot geothermal fluids drawn from the same well. Geopressure and Co-produced Fluids systems are currently operating or under development in Wyoming, North Dakota, Utah, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.
- Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) – Areas with low natural rock permeability but high temperatures of more than 150°C (300°F) are “enhanced” by injecting fluid and other reservoir engineering techniques. EGS resources are typically deeper than hydrothermal and represent the largest share of total geothermal resources. EGS is being pursued globally in Germany, Australia, France, the United Kingdom, and the U.S. EGS is being tested in deep sedimentary basins similar to West Virginia’s in Germany and Australia."
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A rare Coal Country public journalism take on it all can be found in:
"West Virginia Looks Good for Geothermal Energy Production
October 11, 2010
Taylor Kuykendall, Register Herald Reporter
BECKLEY — A new study suggests some areas of West Virginia may be a rich source of renewable energy capable of doubling the state’s electrical generating capacity.
Scientists at Southern Methodist University’s Geothermal Laboratory discovered that the temperature of the Earth beneath certain areas of the state is much higher than previous estimates. The hottest areas — below Tucker, Randolph, Pocahontas, and Greenbrier counties — show potential for use as a commercial baseload of geothermal energy production.
According to an abstract of the study, some of the findings make West Virginia the “most attractive area for geothermal energy development in the eastern one-third of the country.” Anderson said the study looked at some other states and found West Virginia was the “best apple of the crop.”
“The amount of heat available from the earth under the United States alone is enough to power the current U.S. energy demand for 10,000 years,” Anderson said. “You can consider the geothermal energy source an infinite energy source.”
State geologist Michael Hohn said currently the only geothermal energy being used in West Virginia is the direct heating of homes and businesses. He said deeper sources of geothermal energy are not currently utilized in the state.
“The projects going on around the world have been pretty limited in number,” Hohn said. “It’s a pretty new technology.”
Hohn said that West Virginia, already one of the highest energy-producing states on the East Coast, stands to become an even more dominant supply of power in light of the discovery.
The renewable resource will likely not be used locally. Electricity costs, mostly driven by West Virginia coal, are far too inexpensive to be replaced by geothermal energy. However, researchers believe that the proximity to population centers across the East Coast places West Virginia in a position to create jobs, reduce CO2 emissions, and lower dependence on foreign fuel sources."
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Please understand that Geothermal heat is actually used to generate electricity, which in turn allows us to conserve our Coal, especially for use in other applications. More on that will follow, but, we caution that use of Geothermal energy can lead to emissions of Carbon Dioxide. That is so if water is injected through wells into the Geothermal source, and, then, once heated, brought up through other wells. The Geothermal zones are loaded with CO2, and some would be brought to the surface in such an application.
There is a better, more efficient and CO2-free, way to go about it - by using CO2.
As explained in:
Innovative Geothermal Startup Will Put Carbon Dioxide To Good Use | DOE Blog
"March 17, 2011: Geothermal power holds enormous opportunities to provide affordable, clean energy that avoids greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide (CO2). That’s because geothermal technologies rely on heat found under the earth’s surface to generate uninterrupted, low-cost renewable energy that is virtually emissions-free. Now, one Utah-based startup is working on an innovative project that could make geothermal power even more beneficial.
Just last month, GreenFire Energy began work to demonstrate a process that would use CO2 to harness geothermal energy to make electricity. What is more, the technology has the potential to add carbon sequestration – not to mention reduced water consumption – to the benefits already associated with geothermal power. The idea originally emerged several years ago from the work of geoscientist Donald Brown at the Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Lab. Karsten Preuss and others at the Department’s Lawrence Berkeley National Lab have since advanced the theory.
Now GreenFire plans to test that theory on (and under) Arizona soil. In September 2010, the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s Geothermal Technologies Program awarded GreenFire Energy a $2 million cost-share award to conduct the first field demonstration of a CO2-based geothermal system. This pilot project will rely on local geothermal resources and naturally-occurring carbon dioxide from the St. John’s Dome formation near Springerville, AZ.
(Note: As with most secondary CO2-based petroleum recovery operations, they suggest, sadly, bringing CO2 that has already been naturally geologically sequestered to the surface for use in their project.)
Greenfire’s planned demonstration facility will work much like conventional geothermal power plants, which send a “geothermal fluid” – usually water – to be heated by underground rock formations and returned to the surface as steam, powering turbines that produce electricity. Instead of water, GreenFire will test CO2 as its geothermal fluid. Carbon dioxide from St. John’s Dome – the product of past volcanic activity – will be tapped, pressurized to a “supercritical” state and injected underground. When this CO2 returns to the surface, it will cycle through a power conversion system, creating power. After each cycle, the CO2 will be recompressed and reinjected underground. During this process, a portion of the CO2 will be permanently trapped in porous underground rocks. Thus, the process emits no carbon – and may actually store some of it deep underground.
(Except that, note: They will be obtaining their, naturally-produced, Carbon Dioxide from a site where it was already naturally sequestered. Our policies are so contradictory as to be almost beyond believe.)
Getting geothermal power with CO2 instead of water would be particularly beneficial in the arid Southwestern U.S., where water is scarce. Moreover, supercritical CO2 may actually be a better geothermal fluid than water in key ways. Studies suggest that CO2 may have higher heat recovery rates, lower pumping costs due to buoyancy effects, and fewer problems with rock alteration and surface equipment problems.
Should the project demonstrate the technical and economic feasibility of this unconventional geothermal energy technology, GreenFire would ultimately look to build several 50MW geothermal plants, supplementing naturally occurring CO2 from the St. John’s Dome formation with emissions from conventional power plants in the region ... which could be stored or channeled through the geothermal formation, sequestering emissions and generating clean, renewable energy in the process."
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So, even though they are going to use naturally-occurring CO2 in their initial project, they do tell us that we can use "emissions from" Coal-fired "conventional power plants" to recover energy from Geothermal sources, as we now know to exist in West Virginia, and use that heated Carbon Dioxide to drive "turbines that produce electricity".
Great!
Aside from bringing in energy export income to West Virginia, and helping to conserve our vital Coal resources for continued use by future generations, there are few things we can do with the extra electricity.
As in:
More USDOE CO2 "Syntrolysis" | Research & Development; concerning: "Co-Electrolysis of Steam and Carbon Dioxide for Production of Syngas; 2007; Idaho National Laboratory, USDOE; and Ceramatec, Inc., Utah; Abstract: An experimental study has been completed to assess the performance of single-oxide electrolysis cells ... simultaneously electrolyzing steam and carbon dioxide for the direct production of syngas";
we can use the electricity to convert mixtures of Carbon Dioxide and Steam into blends of Hydrogen and Carbon Monoxide, i.e., hydrocarbon synthesis gas; or, as in:
Chicago Recycles CO2 to Methanol | Research & Development; in which we reported on "United States Patent 4,609,441 - Electrochemical Reduction of Aqueous Carbon Dioxide to Methanol; 1986; Assignee: Gas Research Institute, Chicago; Abstract: A method of producing methanol from carbon dioxide (which)
relates to the electrochemical reduction of aqueous carbon dioxide to form methanol";
we can use the electricity to convert a solution of Carbon Dioxide in Water directly into Methanol.
Further, as we intend to document in additional reports to follow, Heat derived from electricity, through resistance, could replace Heat derived from the partial oxidation of Coal. and could thereby be used to make a CO2-free hydrocarbon synthesis gas from Coal, just as Heat energy from focused Solar radiation is seen to be applied, in:
USDOE Converts Coal to Gasoline with Solar Power | Research & Development; concerning: "United States Patent 4,229,184 - Apparatus and Method for Solar Coal Gasification;1980; Assignee: The USA; Abstract: Apparatus for using focused solar radiation to gasify coal and other carbonaceous materials. Incident solar radiation is focused ... onto the surface of a vertically-moving bed of coal, or a fluidized bed of coal, contained within a gasification reactor. Steam introduced into the gasification reactor reacts with the heated coal to produce gas consisting mainly of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, commonly called 'synthesis gas', which can be converted to methane, methanol, gasoline, and other useful products".
And, finally, electricity, derived from a Geothermal-based generator, can be utilized to promote hydrocarbon synthesis reactions in a blend of Coal-derived synthesis gas combined with Carbon Dioxide, as seen in:
Electricity Recycles CO2, Improves Coal Syngas | Research & Development; concerning: "United States Patent Application 20040245086A1 - Production of Synthesis Gas and Derived Products; 2004; Inventors: Andre Peter Steynberg, et. al., South Africa; Abstract: A process for upgrading raw synthesis gas comprising at least CH4, CO2, CO and H2, includes heating the raw synthesis gas by addition of energy derived from electricity to provide an upgraded synthesis gas comprising less CH4 and CO2 and more CO and H2 than the raw synthesis gas".