Been hearing renewed chatter about this. I did a little look into it and have to wonder why the eye sores of wind and solar which doesn't have a constant output was favored over developing this?

CNN Eve did a skit on this and agreed it would be a great renewable resource for electricity.

Here's just an overview for those like me that never looked into it.
https://www.energy.gov/eere/articles/5-common-geothermal-energy-myths-debunked

What's y'all think?

Sounds good to me, Racer man. It reminds me much of the hydrothermal energy in Hawaii that has been tapped into for years.

Like Nuclear , anything that really works has been pushed aside, until now.

I know one person that heats and cools with it,,,,
I did not know you could generate power using it…. I will be looking into that….

They say a nuclear device the size of a large cooler could power 10 homes….
It is to bad we invented the technology for the bomb.

MIT

Almost all renewables only make sense when the government subsidizes them. Which means picking winners and losers.

I had a geothermal heat pump to heat and cool my house since 1985 until I sold the property in January this year. The unit I installed in 1985 was still running when I sold it. There was very little maintenance required over the years to keep it running.

And here is your answer. The plain and simple truth.

Pop's runs a geothermal unit....I can beat it with wood heat in the winter, but can't touch it running AC in the summer.

Name one that isn't, and it doesn't have to be renewable.

Closing them down around here, claiming they can't compete with gas fired plants. Three mile island is no more.

Edit to add for Dirt.... Old coal plants that were converted to gas via subsidies.

Geothermal has a high initial cost unless you live in a Hotspot. To get enough power to power any significant infrastructure you either need to build it in a place where the ground is already hot or you have to dig really really deep. Some areas you can't drill a geothermal well, since the geology just isn't suitable for it.

Still an underutilized technology. I think the high initial cost scare people away from the fact it's a long term investment with reliable returns.

Agree, I read that where the earth's crust is shallow makes the best place for one, albeit not the only place.

I like the small footprint aspect along with constant output unlike other renewables we are dumping money into.

Need to learn a lot more BEFORE go punching in holes. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/geothermal-drilling-earthquakes/

Works in Iceland. Has potential in the US.

No doubt about that Drifter.

I lived here all my 63 years and figured I would have to go to California to experience an earth quake. We've had 2 in the last 6 or 7 years now.
It happens to coincide with all the natural gas fracking they've been doing.

My guess a yhow.

They’re incredibly inefficient (10% on the high end). There’s a reason customers around here aren’t installing heat pumps, they’ll never see the return in their lifetime.

Some of you way behind the times...Microsoft is restarting 3MI to power its AI..

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/09/26/1104516/three-mile-island-microsoft/

Maintenance on an geothermal electric plant is brutal because you're dealing with caustic volcanic fumes. Geothermal AC systems arent the same as geothermal electric generation plants.

Iceland has geothermal electricity generation. Must be cheap. They use more electricity per citizen than any other nation.

Aware of them wanting to restart now, doesn't change the reasons I stated for them closing.