Comments on: Enhanced Geothermal Energy and Man-Made Earthquakes (Part 2) http://stevecotler.com/tales/2009/07/16/egs-earthquakes-2/ (with occasional liberties) Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:33:02 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Is the Production of Geothermal Energy in The Geysers a “Public Nuisance”? | Steve Cotler's Irrepressibly True Tales http://stevecotler.com/tales/2009/07/16/egs-earthquakes-2/comment-page-1/#comment-1186 Is the Production of Geothermal Energy in The Geysers a “Public Nuisance”? | Steve Cotler's Irrepressibly True Tales Mon, 28 Sep 2009 05:42:14 +0000 http://stevecotler.com/tales/?p=2133#comment-1186 [...] previous posts (Part 1 and Part 2) described the EGS project that AltaRock had undertaken in The Geysers, a geologically active [...] [...] previous posts (Part 1 and Part 2) described the EGS project that AltaRock had undertaken in The Geysers, a geologically active [...]

]]> By: Enhanced Geothermal Energy Project Halted in The Geysers | Steve Cotler's Irrepressibly True Tales http://stevecotler.com/tales/2009/07/16/egs-earthquakes-2/comment-page-1/#comment-1109 Enhanced Geothermal Energy Project Halted in The Geysers | Steve Cotler's Irrepressibly True Tales Fri, 04 Sep 2009 03:38:43 +0000 http://stevecotler.com/tales/?p=2133#comment-1109 [...] previous posts (Part 1 and Part 2) described the EGS project that AltaRock had undertaken in The Geysers, a geologically active [...] [...] previous posts (Part 1 and Part 2) described the EGS project that AltaRock had undertaken in The Geysers, a geologically active [...]

]]> By: Wendell Wiggins http://stevecotler.com/tales/2009/07/16/egs-earthquakes-2/comment-page-1/#comment-1047 Wendell Wiggins Thu, 13 Aug 2009 13:45:31 +0000 http://stevecotler.com/tales/?p=2133#comment-1047 Enhanced geothermal energy is one of the most promising alternative energy sources and essentially inexhaustible. It will be a global catastrophe if small earthquakes or just their possibility stops research into how to safely produce this energy. Even the earthquakes around Basel that made this issue a media favorite were mild and injured no one so far as I can determine. Rather than stop this important effort, we need to pursue it even more vigorously to find out how we can extract the energy while minimizing earthquakes and keeping their magnitude at insignificant levels. <em>[SC responds: I agree that research must not be stopped. NIMBY, however, is a potent opponent...unless there is wider-reaching (governmental?) support. Secy. of Energy Steven Chu (cf. the video above) is a proponent of EGS. I hope he spearheads continued efforts to move forward...with proper safeguards.]</em> Enhanced geothermal energy is one of the most promising alternative energy sources and essentially inexhaustible. It will be a global catastrophe if small earthquakes or just their possibility stops research into how to safely produce this energy.

Even the earthquakes around Basel that made this issue a media favorite were mild and injured no one so far as I can determine. Rather than stop this important effort, we need to pursue it even more vigorously to find out how we can extract the energy while minimizing earthquakes and keeping their magnitude at insignificant levels.

[SC responds: I agree that research must not be stopped. NIMBY, however, is a potent opponent...unless there is wider-reaching (governmental?) support. Secy. of Energy Steven Chu (cf. the video above) is a proponent of EGS. I hope he spearheads continued efforts to move forward...with proper safeguards.]

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