Re: Geothermal energy from abondoned mines
posted on
Jun 16, 2008 08:10AM
Some of the geothermal well holes in Nevada are the result of exploratory mining cores. The Nevada Geothermal Power (NGP.V) pumpernickel valley project is the direct result of finding a hot spot in this manner.
In cooler climates the 'normal' earth-heat can provide a significant differential to external temperatures. In a very small scale this can be used for household heating, or on larger scales can be used to produce electricity. It all depends on the thermal source/mass and the differential temperature, which then can be computed as KW, or MW for larger sources.
For mines that are currently flooded, I would classify this as large, but relatively low differential. Could this energy be used commercially? Yes, BUT I would expect the output to be substantially less than the high differential sources.