Dreams that major geothermal energy plants could power our future took a major hit last week, as worries over earthquakes and technical failures killed two ambitious projects in consecutive days. The two projects both hoped to harvest the heat of deeply buried bedrock by drilling down, fracturing the rock, and then circulating water through the fissures to produce steam that could drive turbines.
First, on Thursday, the $60 million plan to tap geothermal energy beneath Basel, Switzerland, died for good after a Swiss government study said it would cause millions of dollars in damage through earthquakes each year. The project, led by Markus O. Häring, a former oilman, was suspended in late 2006 after it generated earthquakes that did no bodily harm but caused about $9 million in mostly minor damage to homes and other structures. Mr. Häring is to go to trial next week on criminal charges stemming from the project.
In our coverage of the closing in Basel we noted that Switzerland has 300-400 earthquakes a year, but only 3-4 above 3.0 on the Richter scale. It’s the possible increase in strength plus frequency that has officials worried. It’s probably also worth noting that there is a good deal of surprise in Switzerland that no officials from Basel are charged, only Haering. The project was a private-public partnership.The Swiss project required drilling more than 16,000 feet into the ground, and would have provided electricity to 10,000 homes. But the government’s report stated that the region could see as many as 170 earthquakes during the project’s 30-year lifespan, including 30 during just the first phase of drilling, though most would be minor.
The United States’ geothermal hopes suffered, too, as the AltaRock project located north of San Francisco announced on Friday that it will shut down, despite extensive financial support. In addition to a $6 million grant from the Energy Department, AltaRock had attracted some $30 million in venture capital from high-profile investors like Google, Khosla Ventures and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers [The New York Times]. AltaRock broke drill bits while trying to tap deep rock, and annoyed and worried nearby California residents with its earthquake potential.
This certainly isn’t the end for geothermal power. Other attempts in Switzerland to tap the heat of the Earth’s crust to produce clean energy continue in zones that are less earthquake-prone. Engineers in Zurich started preliminary drilling last month to see if the area was suitable for such a geothermal project [AP]. Scientists say the Swiss government’s report shouldn’t be used to doom other projects, since it focused narrowly on Basel. Here in the United States, the Department of Energy has allocated $440 million just this year to geothermal projects and doesn’t plan to give up on the idea, especially because there are other methods that don’t require fracturing rock or drilling so deep.Between 50,000 and 40,000 B.C. towers were built to use geothermal and geomagnetic energies for power. This had many bad side effects that led to global disasters. Three main tower were built in a triangle formation. This was so geomagnetic forces could be directed so that plates would not shift. It was decided that these type of technology should not be in operation. Osharian and Iltarian scientist stop testing and production of these types of technology, but Altarian scientist finished and operated towers until the great disaster of 10,908 B.C. At the end a total of 13 towers were built in all. To read more on the myth of the Osharian towers see related articles.
It is believed by Osharians to have a structural design like the Light house of Alexandria. Alexander found and investigated many ancient mystries. Pharos was a small island just off the coast of Alexandria. It was linked to the mainland by a man-made connection named the Heptastadion, which thus formed one side of the city's harbor. The lighthouse was completed in the 3rd century BC, after having been initiated by Satrap (governor) Ptolemy I Soter, Egypt's first Macedonian ruler and a general of Alexander the Great. After Alexander died unexpectedly at age 32, Ptolemy Soter announced himself king in 305 BC, and ordered its construction shortly thereafter. The building was finished during his son Ptolemy Philadelphos's reign. The Lighthouse was legendary in its time, a spectacular monument as well as a working structure. Descriptions in my three references vary as to size, but the Pyre is probably between 350 and 400 feet high. "Pharos" is not mis-spelled. It is not the plural of Pharaoh (the God-Kings of Egypt). Pharos is the name of the island the lighthouse was built on, and the word "pharos" soon came to be the root word for a lighthouse which many of the cultures of the Mediterranean world adopted.