I’ve always wondered to what extent the horizontal drilling revolution could help with geothermal? It certainly did wonders for fossil fuel extraction, but perhaps this is the silver lining?
I do not condone the creation of new fracking wells or more oil and gas extraction. However we could use old dried up wells and mines for green energy. Also it’ll get more eyes on methane seeps and wells so we can stop the release of unburnt methane into the atmosphere
Yes, I believe horizontal drilling has been explored for geothermal and is very beneficial.
I heard that due to that and some other breakthroughs recently, areas that were once thought to be unviable for geothermal like most of the East Coast actually have a lot of potential.
I don’t have sources handy, but my friend stays on top of all of this stuff, so I could have him dig up the relevant papers if necessary.
I’ve always wondered to what extent the horizontal drilling revolution could help with geothermal? It certainly did wonders for fossil fuel extraction, but perhaps this is the silver lining?
Yeah, it might enable geothermal-anywhere. Cost drops sharply each time people try it, as we start a learning-by-doing cycle.
Does that have the same issues with micro quakes that fracking has or is that from the high pressure injections and not the drilling itself?
Likely not due to no need for high pressure liquid being injected into boundary layers.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fracking-can-cause-earthquakes/
However dried up fracking wells could very well be filled with ambient pressure water and used as a thermal sync for hydrothermal energy.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fracking-for-renewable-power-geothermal/
I do not condone the creation of new fracking wells or more oil and gas extraction. However we could use old dried up wells and mines for green energy. Also it’ll get more eyes on methane seeps and wells so we can stop the release of unburnt methane into the atmosphere
https://www.iea.org/reports/global-methane-tracker-2024/understanding-methane-emissions
Very cool, thanks for the links as well!
Yes, I believe horizontal drilling has been explored for geothermal and is very beneficial.
I heard that due to that and some other breakthroughs recently, areas that were once thought to be unviable for geothermal like most of the East Coast actually have a lot of potential.
I don’t have sources handy, but my friend stays on top of all of this stuff, so I could have him dig up the relevant papers if necessary.