https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cewzg77k721o
“The UK's first geothermal power plant has been turned on, providing a
completely new type of renewable electricity using hot water from underground.
On Thursday morning, the Cornish plant will be switched on after nearly two
decades in development which required Geothermal Engineering Ltd (GEL) to drill
the deepest on-shore well in the UK.
The water, super-heated by rocks, will help drive turbines to generate
electricity for 10,000 homes, but will also provide the UK's first domestic
supply of lithium - a critical mineral used in green technology.
The British Geological Survey said it was a "major step forward" for geothermal
but high drilling costs could make replicating the project difficult.
The Earth generates heat which can be harnessed by drilling down below the
surface to provide a renewable, and continuous source of energy to heat and
power our homes – known as geothermal energy.
The further down you go the hotter it gets. At shallow depths the heat is
enough to warm our homes and businesses. This is already done in some parts of
the UK – for example, ground source heat pumps are a form of geothermal
technology, and in places like Southampton, heating is provided to hundreds of
homes via a local network.
But this project has drilled to far greater depths - three miles below the
surface - where temperatures climb to nearly 200C, and this is enough heat to
generate electricity.”
Via
Reasons to be Cheerful:
<
https://reasonstobecheerful.world/what-were-reading-why-maga-suddenly-loves-solar/>
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
