AgentAxeman

Heres an alternative................. How to heat your home for free ... with boiling water from a mile underground Britain’s latest energy revolution doesn’t look like much. Twenty-four acres of windswept, gravelly wasteland, a handful of muddy portable buildings, and a small drilling rig rocking gently in the bright sunshine. But this workaday scene belies the fact that here, a mile, maybe two, under Newcastle upon Tyne lies what some experts believe is the solution to our energy crisis. Because deep in the Earth’s crust, thousands of feet under the city, lurk tens of cubic miles of scaldingly hot rocks. And if all goes well, the people and businesses of Newcastle will, within a couple of years, receive their heating and hot water almost gratis, and carbon-free, courtesy of this ancient heat source. It is easy to be sceptical. Free energy deep in the Earth’s crust sounds too good to be true. People have been talking about ‘geothermal energy’ since I was a child. In the wake of the 1973 oil crisis, the government investigated several potential sites, but this came to nothing because of the initial expense, and interest dwindled as fossil fuel prices fell. But now the cheap gas is running out and oil prices are soaring. We’ve abandoned our coalfields and everyone thinks coal is too dirty to burn and turn into electricity. That leaves nuclear power (hardly flavour of the month, given events in Japan), various forms of renewable energy — and geothermal energy. So has its day come at last? The Newcastle project is on the site of the old Scottish and Newcastle Brewery, now demolished, in the city centre, right in the shadow of the St James’ Park football ground. Last month, drilling started on an exploratory borehole. It’s a project that was embarked upon by the universities of Newcastle and Durham, and is being helmed by a new British company called Cluff Geothermal — formed by Algy Cluff, 70, a former Grenadier Guard who made his fortune in North Sea oil exploration, and George Percy, 26, a friend of Kate Middleton and young member of the aristocratic Northumberland family which owns much of the land around the area. The site has none of the aesthetic grandeur of a large wind turbine, or the James Bond high-techery of a nuclear project; just a small, thrumming drilling rig 50ft tall, pounding through the sandstones and mudstones at a steady rate of 20ft an hour. They’re already nearly 500ft down and plan to go to nearly 7,000ft, where, all being well, the borehole will tap into a hot ocean of brine locked within the deep rocks. The first hot water could be pumped by this May. To understand where this heat comes from, we need a history lesson. More than 400 million years ago, what is now North-East England lay under an ancient ocean. The land on either side of this ocean drifted together, closing the gap and displacing most of the water to other oceans — but a quantity was forced underground. These upheavals meant deep, hot rocks were thrust close to the surface — close enough for their heat to be tapped today. Generally, as you drill down anywhere into the Earth it gets warmer, by one or two degrees Celsius every 300ft. But here the ‘thermal gradient’ is a far more useful three to four degrees every 300ft. That means that if you dig down a mile, you hit rocks that are as hot as a scalding bath. Two miles and you’re above boiling point. What’s more, the upheavals left fault lines throughout the strata of the hot rocks, which are saturated with water from the ancient ocean, like a prehistoric plumbing system. Countless trillions of gallons of brine deep underground have been heated by the hot granite, like the electric element in a kettle. So, what the geologists will be pumping up to the surface is hot sea water that last saw the light of day more than 100 million years before the first dinosaur hatched out of its egg. Where does the heat itself come from? ‘It’s actually generated by the low-level radioactive decay of elements like uranium and thorium in the rocks,’ says Professor Paul Younger, the geologist in charge of the Newcastle project. ‘That big mass of granite acts like a huge natural reactor.’ And unlike wind power, this heat is constant 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Geologists have estimated that a single borehole could provide useful heat for 40 years, after which it would need to be left alone to replenish its natural warmth — while production would simply switch to a replacement borehole nearby. Overall, the geothermal heat under North-East England is good for 300 million years. So, unlike gas or oil, it will never run out. If the geothermal water is hot enough, it can even be used to generate electricity, using water vapour to drive electric turbines The plan is to pump up the hot brine through machines that will pass on the warmth to domestic heating and hot-water systems (the actual brine will be too salty to use directly, although if it is non-toxic some of it might be pumped into a natural mineral spa). Initially, this will provide heat and domestic hot water for a new science park, possibly thousands of flats, offices and shops, as well as the nearby shopping malls of Newcastle city centre. In time, it could be used to heat all kinds of building. A single borehole could generate enough energy to heat a thousand homes and in theory there is no reason why ten or 20 boreholes could not be drilled, providing as much energy as a small conventional power station. Once the initial investment from the Government, universities and the local council has been made, running costs would be almost zero and, of course, there are no carbon emissions. If the geothermal water is hot enough, it can even be used to generate electricity, using water vapour to drive electric turbines. Best of all, there would be no ugly power plant, as geothermal power stations are mostly underground. There have been safety concerns. A scheme in Hawaii ran into trouble when the drill hit a pocket of molten lava. And in 2007 a team of geologists had an even bigger scare when they sank a borehole into an active fault zone in Switzerland, setting off a small earthquake. But, as Professor Younger points out, ‘our geological fault has not moved for 280 million years, so that won’t happen here’. The British project is not without its problems. The rocks under Newcastle are riddled with old mine-workings, antique shafts and buried machinery dating back centuries — the risk of hitting one of these means a very specialised team is being used for the exploratory drilling. So far £900,000 has been spent on the Newcastle project. If the exploratory borehole is a success and hits ‘hot gold’ — and we should know by July — private companies will be invited to move in. Britain’s wealth was founded on two things: wool in the Middle Ages and, later, our extraordinary geological heritage, which kick-started the industrial revolution in the 18th century. We had coal, iron and later oil and gas. For many reasons their day has passed, or is passing. What is now being exploited is the almost inexhaustible source of energy that lies deep beneath the earth of our ancient land. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/art...l#ixzz1HFIVkgVC

Correct me if I'm wrong but didnt the jap reactors only go kaput because of a 8.9 earthquake and subsequent tidal wave? When was the last time we had those conditions in the UK Parky? More Nuclear power please. Gotta be better than those fuckin stupid windmills popping up all over the place. Edit: Wave power is a good call aswell.

I just want the fat fucka to croak, landing on pardoo and breaking his spine. That would do for me!

He aint no Hughton either!!!

Why? Colo, Willo and Taylor all ahead in the pecking order? For physical presence maybe?

this tbh. Pardew is a fuckwit of the highest order!

Technically it was Saturday morning.

The steak has been consumed!

plus costs Tom. Divvnt forget them..................... (enough to make yer weep really)

Difficult to ignore tho when its such an emotive subject. Personally I think the £50 fine is an absolute disgrace. If they are so dissatisfied with the 'British' culture and lifestyle then they should fuck off to somewhere more intune with their own personal ideals. (imo) Btw, does anyone know if these chaps are British born Muslims or immigrants?

I was waiting for the Tsunami jokes to come flooding in................................

Wahey! Social progress!!

April showers?? You've seen that vid as well? Of course...........................................

no, not even so called 'respected' enviromental scientists could answer that with any certainty. my guess is no but im sure someone will be along soon to disagree with that.

Like any activity you need a modicum of natural talent to start with. If you dont have that then any amount of dedication wont see you to the top. Conversely, all the talent in the world does you no good whatsoever if you dont have the dedication. as to the op - yes if you have natural talent and no if you dont. For me, no i dont think i could become world champ in 5 yrs

April showers??

In the 84/85 season at home but i cant remember who we were playing. I remember 'Mavis' Reilly scored so that should narrow it down a bit. Was stood in the scoreboard section. Good times!

You dislike him because he unbuttoned his shirt? Man, you crazy!!!!

Liar! Bet ya cant last 40 days (and loooooooooooooong nights!)

Golden syrup! OH YEAH BABY!!!!

Best way. A 100% conviction rate will stand VERY well with the voters.

Giraffe. Should be easy enough.

this

Tricky one. Blade Runner is my no.1 all time fav film and as such I would hate to see it sullied but I'd also put Alien in my top 10. However, Aliens imo is a better film (more bang bang ) so sometimes the whole prequel/sequel thing can work. Mind the rest of the Alien franchise was pap.