(The Moose Jaw Times Herald)
Approximately 4.5 billion years ago the Earth formed from solar nebula particles drawn together under the force of gravity.
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| 'Mac the Moose' of Moose Jaw (Courtesy closetcanuck.com) |
“The rocks themselves hold the heat,” Brunskill told the audience during the information session titled Green Energy in Community Design.
If one were to drill two kilometres below the Friendly City, one would discover a stagnant ‘deadwood’ aquifer of hot water, at about 68 C. Brunskill said developers could drill two wells into this aquifer, with one drawing water out of the aquifer, and the other pushing it back down to be reheated.
At the surface, the geothermal water would pass through a heat exchanger plant to be distributed to homes and businesses in the area surrounding the operation.
“This is a closed system,” Brunskill said, adding the movement of water will slowly cool the rocks overtime, so the geothermal system would only work for approximately 60 years. After that, it takes the Earth about a century to reheat the rocks.
However, Brunskill said for at least two generations the geothermal heating would prove a cost-effective, environmentally-friendly and local source of energy. While the system would require about 366 kilowatts of electricity to pump the water, the heat energy produced is about 29.25 million kilojoules per hour.
If one were to drill two kilometres below the Friendly City, one would discover a stagnant ‘deadwood’ aquifer of hot water, at about 68 C. Brunskill said developers could drill two wells into this aquifer, with one drawing water out of the aquifer, and the other pushing it back down to be reheated.
At the surface, the geothermal water would pass through a heat exchanger plant to be distributed to homes and businesses in the area surrounding the operation.
“This is a closed system,” Brunskill said, adding the movement of water will slowly cool the rocks overtime, so the geothermal system would only work for approximately 60 years. After that, it takes the Earth about a century to reheat the rocks.
However, Brunskill said for at least two generations the geothermal heating would prove a cost-effective, environmentally-friendly and local source of energy. While the system would require about 366 kilowatts of electricity to pump the water, the heat energy produced is about 29.25 million kilojoules per hour.
