GFZ

Hey Andreas, this is for you!

Down and dirty

Mar 6th 2008
From The Economist print edition

Energy: If geothermal energy, which exploits underground heat reserves, is to become widespread, it will have to work outside volcanic areas

IN THE world of environmental activism there is a good rule of thumb. If an energy source comes out of the ground, it is probably bad (think coal, oil, natural gas and, in the view of many, uranium). If it does not, then it is probably good (think wind, wave and solar power). But there is an exception. Even the most hair-shirted environmentalist finds it hard to argue against geothermal energy. When what comes out of the ground is merely hot water or steam there is, as it were, little to get steamed up about.

The problem is that traditional geothermal power relies on volcanism. That is fine if you live in Iceland or New Zealand. But it is not so good in a geologically passive place such as Germany. Which is why Wulf Brandt, of the National Research Centre of Geosciences in Potsdam, has dug a deep hole in the ground at Gross Schönebeck, near Berlin .... (read more)