"Champagne pool", Waiotapu,
New Zealand. |
Harnessing the furnace beneath our feetMost people are familiar with spectacular thermal areas like Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park, or the geysers of Iceland. Countries like Italy, Iceland, New Zealand, Japan, the U.S., and Indonesia have been making use of such geothermal heat with major power stations for decades. These typically use very active geothermal areas to generate steam.
Yet the Earth's heat is not limited to such areas. The temperature of the Earth increases routinely as a function of depth wherever we are. Increasingly, with ever more efficient technologies, this fact is being used to heat water, not just steam, and harness this energy - even around the UK. Unlike other renewables such as wind or solar, this energy stream is constant and reliable, and as long as the earth's core and mantle has radioactive elements - and that's a pretty long time - it will continue. PAETORO is further researching applications of geothermal heat in the UK and around the world - particularly Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and South America. We are compiling databases of related information to understand what might work, and where it doesn't seem to - what the issues are. We are also interested in the joint exploration for hydrocarbons & minerals, in conjunction with geothermal exploration, particularly in Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia, and North Africa. |
Relevant Blogs
- Taking Geothermal Forward in 2020 - a Paetoro View
- The Power of Place
- PIVOT 2020 – Some questions and discussion raised by session 8: Geothermal prospecting
- Paetoro Horizons 2020: Faults, Water (& heat), Onshore Geophysics, Hydrocarbons, and INTEGRATED SCALE
- A kite-flying geothermal play mapping exercise for the Permo-Triassic of UK
- Commercially integrated geothermal play mapping for warm water aquifer applications
- Investing in Geothermal UK - ready for thinking bigger? (with particular application to the Permo-Triassic play)
- Atomic Dielectric Resonance (ADR): High (depth) resolution electromagnetic remote sensing to km-scale depths for subsurface resource exploration
- From the outside looking in: the risk, the money, & the public: UK Deep (onshore) Geothermal
Why it is important? Emissions targets.
Geothermal energy both for heating and power is important, because it impacts emissions. A large proportion of a country's primary energy consumption is typically dedicated to heating and this can often be fuelled largely from carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide emitting fossil fuel combustion - as these statistics from BEIS in the UK show for 2018:
Geothermal energy can help address this heating consumption. It may not always be the right answer everywhere, but it deserves more widespread consideration as an option. Most people are familiar with geothermal energy for power production, and that requires a certain temperature threshold for effective power generation - the heat resource does need to be very hot - and so that usually confines installed capacity for geothermal power production to countries with volcanism - as these WEC 2013 figures show.
However, geothermal energy is not just about electricity generation, and the spread of countries that use Earth sourced heat for applications other than power generation is far more widespread and comprises an energy usage that is a couple of orders of magnitude larger, as the WEC figures below demonstrate. Geothermal energy for heating is important.
Geothermal energy always involves putting "plumbing" in the ground, and the capex expenditure involved in that is a challenge, whether it is 20 metres deep or 2000 metres. Digging holes is never cheap. Paetoro is working to understand the technical and socio-economic constraints to identify geothermal "sweet spots" in exploration. This is just as much about where the market is as it is about the geoscience. Paetoro does not presume geothermal energy is the answer everywhere, but we look to develop and refine the workflows which best identify where it can work, and where it might work in the future as energy transition social values, policies and commercial constraints change.
The Permo-Triassic Geothermal Play in UK
In 2020 a submission was made as part of the Northern Ireland Department of the Economy Energy Strategy: Call for Evidence (deadline March 20, 2020). The document, while paying some particular attention to Northern Ireland, is directed at the wider Permo-Triassic geothermal resource throughout UK. It provides a "first-pass" listing of sites where geothermal play-element mapping that integrates both geotechnical and commercial aspects has been considered. It, and some supporting files, are downloadable below. An abstract to the study is also provided below.
| 20200320_nienergycalltoev_geothermal_paetoro.pdf |
Above: Full report
| 20200319_paetoro_ukgeotherm_permotrias.pdf |
Above: Powerpoint Summary
| 20200318_ptgeothermal_playmappingaois.xlsx |
Above: Excel spreadsheet location rankings
An example of scoping technical and commercial (heat demand) ranking analysis applied not just to the Wessex Basin but also to Worcester, Cheshire, Lincolnshire, Yorkshire and Northern Irish Basins.
ABSTRACT TO THE SUBMISSION
The 2020’s are rapidly becoming an extraordinary time of energy diversification. This study looks at a particular geological age of reservoir widespread throughout the UK that may have potential as a geothermal warm/hot water resource for use in district heating networks and other applications, with use of heat pump technologies where necessary. This is important because heating forms 45% of the UK’s primary energy needs and even more, - 50%, in Northern Ireland. The ability of district heating networks to be used with other renewable sources means geothermal resources need not carry all the burden of instigating such networks alone and are just one weapon in a growing arsenal of options for energy diversification.
This is not a final technical document, rather its aims are to:
The study makes no a-priori assumption about the feasibility of this resource. The economics depend on many variables and more detailed study at particular sites – but analysis workflows of the more general nature illustrated here are necessary to empower such analysis at specific sites. The net is cast very wide, with no assumptions made about what might be economic now or in the future. The first job has been to demonstrate the scale of the resource.
334 sites exist nationwide with some existing heat demand and temperatures > 30 deg C inferred at Permo-Triassic levels. 96 are documented where the best performing unit is greater than 100m thick, and temperatures are greater than 50 deg C at the same level. 96 sites is sufficient to start contemplating a portfolio-based approach that shares risk and elevates the scale of potential reward - to a level that is very interesting. It seems significant enough to warrant serious consideration in national and regional strategic planning of energy, and the attention of long-term energy investors.
The particular applications for Northern Ireland are considered as part of the Northern Ireland Dept. of the Economy Energy Strategy call to evidence due on 20 March 2020. Many organisations around the UK and Europe are involved in study and development of such geothermal resources, and this document is seen an exercise in “kite-flying” to spark further discussion with a wide range of technical and commercial professionals in government, business, and academia. It represents an initial “scoping” stage of an ongoing process that will subject to further modification and correction.
Dave Waters March 2020.
The 2020’s are rapidly becoming an extraordinary time of energy diversification. This study looks at a particular geological age of reservoir widespread throughout the UK that may have potential as a geothermal warm/hot water resource for use in district heating networks and other applications, with use of heat pump technologies where necessary. This is important because heating forms 45% of the UK’s primary energy needs and even more, - 50%, in Northern Ireland. The ability of district heating networks to be used with other renewable sources means geothermal resources need not carry all the burden of instigating such networks alone and are just one weapon in a growing arsenal of options for energy diversification.
This is not a final technical document, rather its aims are to:
- Highlight a workflow that can be used to prioritise areas of interest on even basic publicly available information. Other organisations with access to better data may be able to significantly improve it.
- Specifically, name areas so that more detailed studies can initiate in earnest on an initial pool of prioritised sites, with focussed data collation and acquisition, and consideration of commercial questions.
- Draw attention to the inevitable geological risk involved, but also to how “think-big” portfolio-based strategies in public-private partnership are a way of managing this risk and attracting greater attention from investors.
- Illustrate that the resource has the scale to justify consideration of such an approach.
- Discuss some of the key technical and commercial issues affecting exploration and exploitation of the resource.
The study makes no a-priori assumption about the feasibility of this resource. The economics depend on many variables and more detailed study at particular sites – but analysis workflows of the more general nature illustrated here are necessary to empower such analysis at specific sites. The net is cast very wide, with no assumptions made about what might be economic now or in the future. The first job has been to demonstrate the scale of the resource.
334 sites exist nationwide with some existing heat demand and temperatures > 30 deg C inferred at Permo-Triassic levels. 96 are documented where the best performing unit is greater than 100m thick, and temperatures are greater than 50 deg C at the same level. 96 sites is sufficient to start contemplating a portfolio-based approach that shares risk and elevates the scale of potential reward - to a level that is very interesting. It seems significant enough to warrant serious consideration in national and regional strategic planning of energy, and the attention of long-term energy investors.
The particular applications for Northern Ireland are considered as part of the Northern Ireland Dept. of the Economy Energy Strategy call to evidence due on 20 March 2020. Many organisations around the UK and Europe are involved in study and development of such geothermal resources, and this document is seen an exercise in “kite-flying” to spark further discussion with a wide range of technical and commercial professionals in government, business, and academia. It represents an initial “scoping” stage of an ongoing process that will subject to further modification and correction.
Dave Waters March 2020.