From shale to steam: Fossil fuel technology boosts clean geothermal energy

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By Callie Patteson, Washington Examiner. 

Excerpt: Just below the Earth’s surface, there is an abundant source of heat that can be used to generate highly reliable and emissions-free geothermal energy. ...technology developed by the oil and gas industries over the past two decades is now making it possible to tap into geothermal energy all across the globe. ...Geothermal energy can provide electricity, heating, and cooling, and store excess energy under the surface, just from extracting heat from underground reservoirs of hot, typically porous, rocks saturated with water. To generate energy, the heat is used to produce steam, which travels through piping and turbines to create electricity. ...Roughly 20 years ago, the United States saw what is most commonly described as the “shale boom” or “shale revolution.” This was driven by technological developments in hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, which made it easier for producers to drill deeper and pump more oil and gas.  Hydraulic fracturing, better known as fracking, involves a high-pressure drill and perforating gun system to create cracks in shale rock thousands of feet underground. Millions of gallons of water, chemicals, and sand are then pumped into these fissures, causing crude oil and gas to flow back to the surface.  ...Drilling for geothermal energy is not the same as the process in traditional fracking, as geothermal producers are not using chemicals and sand to bring oil and gas hydrocarbons back to the surface.... '

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