MIT study backs geothermal

[tinrobot]

MIT-led panel backs 'heat mining' as key U.S. energy source

A comprehensive new MIT-led study of the potential for geothermal energy within the United States has found that mining the huge amounts of heat that reside as stored thermal energy in the Earth's hard rock crust could supply a substantial portion of the electricity the United States will need in the future, probably at competitive prices and with minimal environmental impact.

An 18-member panel led by MIT prepared the 400-plus page study, titled "The Future of Geothermal Energy." Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, it is the first study in some 30 years to take a new look at geothermal, an energy resource that has been largely ignored.

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2007/geothermal.html

[HysteryDiagnosis]

1. Something that has always held my curiosity. If the earth is as

old as some think... (myself included) then how is it that there seems to be an inexhaustible supply of geothermal energy stored within it?? I mean, eventually things cool down one would think, unless of course there is something else going on that science hasn't yet stumbled upon. It's just stramge to me that volcanoes to this date, millions, strike that billions of years after the formation of the earth are still cropping up here and there, releasing megajoules of energy, seemingly with no end in sight.

[salib]

2. There are several sources:

Gravitational heating including due to interactions with the moon and sun (differential between the core and the mantle). There are even General Relativistic impacts.

General compression/conversion of mantle to core.

Radioactive decay.

Etc.

[StClone]

3. This is and MIT prank

Sounds lagit but can we trust these MIT guys and Science?

:sarcasm:



Nightwork: A History of Hacks and Pranks at MIT (Paperback)

http://www.amazon.com/Nightwork-History-Hacks-Pranks-MIT/dp/0262661373

[Oerdin]

4. The truth

Geothermal is great in areas with high geothermal potential; i.e. places with a lot of volcanic activity, active faulting (which generates heat), or zones of crustal thinning (like the Imperial Valley east of San Diego which is continuing to rift off of the rest of North America). It has almost no application in other areas on a large commercial basis. Hawaii and the west coast up to Southeastern Alaska are prime ares but the rest of the country isn't. Just like hydroelectric power it only works where the correct conditions exist.