Geothermal Energy is a Problem Geothermal energy production releases less carbon emissions than a coal power plant, but it is far from benign. In this video I report from the site of the proposed "Baltazor" geothermal energy
Geothermal energy production releases less carbon emissions than a coal power plant, but it is far from benign. In this video I report from the site of the proposed "Baltazor" geothermal energy project in northeastern Nevada, west of Denio.
In my book "Bright Green Lies," myself and my co-authors explain some of the issues. Here's an excerpt:
---- "In Kenya, geothermal energy development is destroying a national park, where more than 90 new geothermal wells were drilled between 2014 and 2017, meaning more roads were punched across the park and more habitat was destroyed or fragmented. Maasai people have been violently evicted en masse.
[Geothermal] drilling releases mercury, arsenic, and boron into groundwater. And water for drilling wells—about 8 million gallons per month, a number expected to rise sharply—is taken from a local lake which is part of a wetland of international importance.
... Geothermal drilling in Nevada is threatening a newly discovered toad species, the Dixie Valley toad. Its habitat, which measures only about four square miles, would be obliterated by a proposed geothermal power expansion.
Another example: Iceland is volcanically active, and the country has become a center of geothermal-energy-harvesting facility construction. This industrialization is pushed relentlessly by bright greens, corporate green organizations and foundations, mining interests, climate activists, and pretty much everyone else who cares more about industry than life on the planet.
This construction has been opposed by local environmentalists, who call it “geothermal ecocide.” The group Saving Iceland writes that “the exploitation of the Reykjanes peninsula’s geothermal areas spells the end of this magnificent nature of the peninsula as we know it. Test drilling and boreholes, endless roads and power lines, power plants and other infrastructure; all this would turn the Reykjanes peninsula—this unique land of natural volcanic wonders ... into a large industrial zone. But these are only the very visible impacts of the planned large-scale exploitation. Other environmental catastrophes are in fact inevitable with large-scale geothermal industry, becoming increasingly visible to the public as the green reputation of geothermal energy slowly decreases.”
... Geothermal facilities are also directly linked to pollution in Iceland. Between 1999 and 2012, levels of sulfur dioxide rose 71 percent in the Reykjavik area due mainly to geothermal plants. This is causing acid rain and respiratory conditions, and worsening heart problems. Elevated levels of hydrogen sulfide from geothermal-energy-harvesting facilities have also been linked to higher death rates. Geothermal waste fluid, which contains “high concentrations of heavy metals and other toxic elements including radon, arsenic, mercury, ammonia, and boron,” has been released into groundwater. Iceland is currently planning or building at least 21 major geothermal-energy-harvesting facilities, some of them in the highlands, the largest wilderness in Europe.
The technology for drilling geothermal wells was developed primarily by the oil and gas industry. Geothermal brine injection shares many techniques and problems with fracking. In fact, a relatively new technology called “enhanced geothermal systems” (EGS) borrows fracking technology directly, using the same method of injecting high-pressure slurries to fracture subterranean rock formations. The only difference is that fracking releases gas, while EGS releases superheated water and steam. Like fracking for gas, geothermal fracking poisons groundwater and causes earthquakes.
And like fracking for gas, geothermal fracking typically uses a wide range of toxic chemicals. At one site in Oregon, these include naphthalene, safranin, rhodamine, lithium, cesium, rubidium, fluorescein, plastics, and any number of trade-secret compounds. This technology is already used in Nevada, Oregon, Australia, Europe, and elsewhere." ----
#Greenwashing #BrightGreenLies #Geothermal #Ecocide #Waste #Overconsumption
More about the Baltazor project: https://www.blm.gov/press-release/humboldt-river-field-office-publish-final-environmental-assessment-baltazor
More about the book Bright Green Lies: https://www.maxwilbert.org/books/
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