Geothermal Power is David Reynold’s Pursuit

Today’s Montague Reporter included an article about Geothermal power in New England. It got me interested in knowing more about this limitless, pollution-free source of power. I found this on a cool website about Geothermal power.

“So what is geothermal heating? It may not be well known in Connecticut, but it is a common heating source in other parts of the world. Geothermal energy is tapped into by more than 20 countries, most notably Iceland, which gets 17% of its electricity from geothermal energy. Geothermal heating relies primarily on the earth’s natural thermal energy, a renewable resource, to heat or cool a house or multi-family dwelling. The geothermal process uses the heat contained in the earth.

The ground’s temperature is always a steady 55 degrees. Pipes are buried in deep, vertically drilled holes. Water (or other transfer liquid) is circulated through the heat exchanger and back out through the loops continuously. An indoor unit compresses the fluid to a higher temperature; after it boils, the steam runs a turbine which gathers power, then the water is recondensed and sent through the cycle again.

David Reynolds, of Wendell, is actively working to prove that geothermal power is viable for New England, wrote the Reporter. His company, Atlantic Geothermal, proposes a massive 50′ wide, 100-mile-long tunnel to harness the heat and spin turbines. He is thinking big: 1600 megawatts. In Iceland, the 10 plants there pump out only 340 mgw/ a year.

Reynolds recalls that the state built the giant pipeline from the Quabbin 100 years ago, and it was 25 miles long, by dug by hand–So this huge distance of pipe could viably be done by today’s computer-run tunnel-drilling rigs.