70-75% is good efficiency. So did they use an existing old oil well? What are the construction costs of this? I mean it's great they built it quickly but I'm wondering if they built it quickly because the digging had already been done.
I'm not a geophysicist but it doesn't seem like impermeable rock would "inflate like a balloon" and even if it did, that seems like it would be a pretty bad thing for the surrounding countryside. Given that water infamously doesn't like to compress, I'm at a loss for how this thing actually works.
Does anyone have a better explanation than this article?
dwa3592•1m ago
I found "inflate like a balloon" a bit confusing/misleading. it's more like the fracture in the rocks expands(slightly) due to the pumping of water- and when the pump is turned off, the fracture goes back to a normal position pushing the hot water up. I am not an expert but I am really bamboozled by the reliability of this bc I imagine the rock/fracture will have to give away after some time(permanent rupture) or they will have to keep expanding the fracture.
AtlasBarfed•21m ago