“Hot Rocks 2”? University of Melbourne professor calls for more geothermal energy – Increase energy for that?

Guest essay by Eric Worrall

In 2009, Tim Flannery’s Geodynamics won a $90 million in government funding. By 2016 it’s all over. But I guess six years is a long time in the world of geothermal hype.

There’s a huge geothermal pool under the Latrobe Valley that could provide us with cheap, clean energy

December 2, 2021 12.48pm AEDT
Graeme Beardsmore
Senior Researcher in Crust Heat Streams, University of Melbourne

About 650 meters below the Latrobe Valley, the heart of the Victorian coal region, lies a little-known, naturally hot 65℃ pool in a giant aquifer.

This aquifer is a source of geothermal energy – a renewable source of heat or electricity, still in use today. to heat an aquatic center in the town of Traralgon. They chose it – over natural gas, coal-fired power or even zero-emission solar and wind – because geothermal energy is currently the cheapest option for heating.

The hot aquifer is first report long ago in 1962, when government geologist JJ Jenkin recorded numerous “appearances of high-temperature waters in East Gippsland”. We now know hot water is the basis for about 6,000 square kilometers of Gippsland, from Morwell in the west to Lakes Entrance in the east, and is equivalent to 30 billion Australian dollars heat of natural gas prices today.

But with the natural gas flowing from Bass Strait and the huge reserves of brown coal in the Latrobe Valley, there is little incentive to develop alternative energy sources. As the coal era draws to a close, it’s time we make better use of this vast, clean energy source to help cut our nation’s emissions and ease energy transitions.

…

Read more: https://theconversation.com/theres-an-enormous-geothermal-pool-under-the-latrobe-valley-that-can-give-us-cheap-clean-energy-166829

So what happened to Geodynamics?

…

Before closing, the company was looking for a way to extract super-hot water from 5 kilometers below the earth’s surface and use it to generate small amounts of electricity.

Geodynamics CEO Chris Murray said: “The technology worked but unfortunately the cost of deploying the technology and also the cost of delivering the electricity produced to market was just greater than the revenue stream we generated. I can create.

Professor Martin Hand runs the South Australian Geothermal Energy Research Center at the University of Adelaide.

“I think it’s been talked about too much – it’s a very cool concept on the front page of a newspaper, looks so easy to do, and I think it’s been talked about too much,” he said.

…

Read more: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-30/geothermal-power-plant-closed-deemed-not-financially-viable/7798962

I’m glad people can try these for themselves. Professor Beardsmore from LinkedIn Profile seems to suggest he’s developed better predictive drilling models, which could help him find his hot water source with fewer test drills. If this gives him the edge that Geodynamics lacks, then good luck to him. But given the failed record of such ventures, he will likely have plenty of convincing things to do to secure his finances.