Hats off to Germany for attempting something brave, building geothermal power and heat plants instead of coal, gas, or nuclear plants. The initial cost is much higher than the old style plant but in the long run the payoff is much greater. Thinking beyond your term in office is such a rare thing that I’m impressed when I hear about plans such as this that are actually implemented. Many talk about a better future but few are willing to do anything about it.
As reported in Iceland Review, Icelandic energy companies have won a contract to build these plants in Bavaria. Who better to contract than the best hot water plumbers on the planet…
In addition to providing the steam for electricity generating turbines you can use the post turbine water for the heat and domestic hot water needs of the nearby towns and cities. The Icelanders have been doing this for decades so to those that think that too much heat is lost by piping it to the city, it can be done and done very efficiently. Loosing only 2 degrees along the way, it is more efficient than heating your own water and piping it across your house.
Which has me wondering why our traditional power plants don’t reuse the post turbine water in domestic heat and hot water systems. The iconic sight of a nuclear plant are the cooling towers and aren’t radioactive at all. They simply cool the post turbine hot water before dumping into the lake or cycled back for reheating before the turbines. Why not heat exchange it and pump heat to the nearby towns? No matter what fuel is used to create the steam for turbines they all have waste heat that must be dealt with. Using that heat instead of cooling it down with no benefits seems like a waste to me. Ah, the short term costs are high even though the long term benefits are huge. We don’t think long term and perhaps is why we are in the mess that confronts us now.
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