Wednesday, January 8, 2020

New Zealand: Solution to Meet Renewable Energy Targets is Deeper, Supercritical Geothermal - GNS Science

Searching for New Zealand's electricity future in the deep heat (Stuff)

(Courtesy CIA.gov)
Deep underground, in places where it's so hot water doesn't exist in distinct liquid and gas phases, lies a resource that is hoped will play a key role in New Zealand's energy future.

GNS Science is optimistic so-called supercritical geothermal is part of the solution to achieving the Government's "ambitious renewable" energy targets. But it's years away.

During 2019 the New Zealand Government decided to spend $10.7 million over five years to identify the best places to find the resource in New Zealand, and to find out more about it.

According to GNS, conventional geothermal alone cannot get New Zealand to the Government target of 100 per cent renewable electricity by 2035, and net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

"The solution is deeper, supercritical geothermal," GNS said in its funding bid.