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Action speaks louder and $ talks ...

Let us begin by immediately creating the 2nd Global Fund. Let us begin with a Trillion Dollar investment in scalable clean, green renewable energy technologies and the storage solutions that dramatically accelerate the worldwide energy transformation and break the deadly global fossil addiction.

A Squanderable Abundance of Energy is "The" game changer for all of humanity ... the way forward that ends the carnage and needless suffering of global material scarcity.

This is the time, this is the challenge and the opportunity ... this is the gift of these trying times.

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Best comment of the day! Now is the time. Europe has finally realized that Russia can't be relied on for energy. The response to an American initiative would have to be greeted with open arms. Thanks for this!

BTW, I saw a great piece by Miles O'Brien last not on the NewsHour about geothermal energy. Wow. Huge potential for completely sustainable electricity - using the skill sets developed in the oil fields! True energy freedom could be around the corner for every nation. And jobs for fossil fuel workers to boot!

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Timothy Snyder on Ari Melber the other day said that the time for the world to have gotten off fossil fuels was after 9/11. Democracies cannot stay democracies if they are dependent economically on autocracies .

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I go back further to the first Oil Crisis of 1973.

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I read that Iceland gets the majority of their energy from geo ... talk about an abundant resource!

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Yes, but a lot is right at the surface. Geo thermal is one of the portfolio options that need further interest

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Right? Their geothermal is right there for the taking.

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Absolutely!

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Tom, Iceland's situation is very different from nearly every other place: they live on a geothermal hot spot that is directly available to tap into. The technology is simple. Geothermal has also been used in other areas (including my home state in the NW), and does have a lot of potential, but there are limitations and also risks of contamination of groundwater and soil. It has to be designed and managed carefully.

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Yes, Geo is a relatively small part of the solution with many dangers and complexities. This is why we need to begin by creating the Trillion Dollar Global Fund 2. The key concept and opportunity is Global,.

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I lived for years near the Larderello geothermal power station in Tuscany. It was the world's first (1911) (not counting the Romans, who also used geothermal power) and I think Wairakei in New Zealand was the next. They are not alone:

https://www.topteny.com/top-10-most-recorded-countries-producing-geothermal-energy/

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Geo is almost insignificant. A trillion $ Global Fund is what's needed to change the game.

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With solar and wind being cheaper, more accessible, and with much smaller environmental impact, commercial geothermal is the toughest option to pursue at the moment, especially in terms of placing facilities in regions where the rock foundations produce suitable siting

Still in its infancy, but I think viable

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I saw that piece also on the NewsHour! It was very encouraging to see the work being done with geothermal energy...and to see the oil industry jumping on the bandwagon...it gave hope...

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Geo thermal at scale is expensive but possible. We’d all have to accept the fracking that comes with it though

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Dave, geothermal is not tied to fracking. It is like a heat pump that uses heat from the earth. I think perhaps we need to stop thinking of energy primarily in terms of large scale, and think more about a range of small-scale environmentally responsible sources that supplement each other.

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There is geo thermal for household heat. Simple but long term payback

Then there is commercial geothermal that creates steam to run turbines to generate electricity. Two different animals

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But, as I tried to point out earlier, limited to places that are "hot spots" unless you plan to dig very very deep wells. As a professional hydrogeologist along the arc of my career, I can assure you that that presents some significant challenges. Which is one of the things that led me to the next part of my career. Now I think I'd like to return to the main focus of this forum, rather than get sidetracked into something that definitely does need discussion, but probably not here.

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Yes, also less susceptible to big grid cyber attacks!

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I'm wondering if the power to run the electrical components- fan etc. is to what he refers.

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I need some clarification, please. I have a home geothermal system, 7 wells were dug. Why is fracking necessary large scale? To power electrical plants? Thanks.

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There’s a difference between the twenty foot wells dug for residential purposes and the deep well required to provide steam to power plants. Geothermal for heating a house is different than the requirements to spin a turbine for electricity

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Hmm... I still don't understand where fracking is an issue. Deeper reach for aquifers may have issues especially with cost, but I'm not understanding where fracking enters the equation. Thanks.

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The Geo Thermal systems for steam generation to power turbines go miles deep into rock. Fracking is used to crack the rock to provide the surface area into which fluid is pumped to down into the fractured rock and then returned back to the surface under pressure to drive the turbines. I’ll look for a link

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