The Australian Academy of Science has estimated that Australia has enough accessible geothermal energy to meet 26,000 years of its power needs.
As with other forms of clean energy, the challenge is getting the energy underground to urban electric power markets. Oil exploration discovered geothermal resources concentrated in granite formations in the outback. Yet, as Tim Flannery told Amy Goodman, “It’s in the most dismal spot in Australia. It’s right in the dead center of our continent, near Lake Eyre, which is a huge salt pan, and it’s four kilometers down in the earth.
If cost excludes connecting to the Grid, another idea is to shift energy intensive industries to these areas. Smelting aluminium, sometimes called “congealed electricity” is one example because of the amount of energy required to convert ore to metal. Another example is purification of silicon for photo voltaic panels.
Still, as this blog noted before Australia is moving forward with geothermal power. There have been government grants, which will allow full prototypes testing in a few years.
More than 30 companies aim to deliver geothermal energy to the grid, the renewable energy report says. Via Peak Energy, which reports about geothermal power as it is underway, we learn from The ABC about a survey of Victorian geothermal energy resources – ‘Significant’ geothermal energy reserves discovered.
Studies of underground water tables in Victoria’s north and west have revealed a significant new store of geothermal energy reserves.
The State Government and Geoscience Victoria, have undertaken large studies of underground energy over the last year and released a new map of available reserves to attract investment.
The Energy and Resources Minister, Peter Batchelor, says Stawell, Horsham, Mildura, and Ballarat, have all been identified as new areas with significant energy potential.
What could enhance development of sustainable, utility-scale, energy supply in geologically active locales of Australia is to combine geothermal with solar thermal power.
The amazing dr x relayed the idea of teaming hot rock steam with solar furnace steam.
That way the rocks get to rest and recuperate when the concentrating solar plant is powering the turbines. Molten salt storage could use solar even at night, cutting the time/heat needed from the hot rocks. The rocks lose their heat after 10 years of constant operation, this symbiotic design cures that.
The beauty is that the turbines are powered by both sources.
Let’s not stop there. There is a cost to getting resources to and products from such remote areas. Yet, with suitable energy storage (perhaps, Boron?) and / or transmission, the transportation would use the energy harvested in situ, which is Icelandic for [the Australian Internet Censorship Bureau has determined that this translation is salacious and unsuited for viewing by amphibians].
One Comment