Alaska Geothermal Power Can Fuel U.S. Indo-Pacific Strategy

[Perknose]

FP article I believe is not paywalled.

Geothermal power also brings security benefits. [...] This is true for vital U.S. territories, including the Aleutian islands of Unalaska and Adak; Shemya Island; Guam; and Hawaii.

For Taiwan, which faces the real risk of a blockade by China, each gigawatt of geothermal power brought online could, potentially displace about 1.25 million tons per year of liquified natural gas imports, or roughly 6 percent of the island’s total import volume in 2023. That estimate assumes that the geothermal facilities run at a 90 percent utilization rate and that the LNG would have been used to generate electricity in modern combined cycle power plants with a 50 percent thermal efficiency.

[...]

A U.S. Energy Department analysis notes that to achieve commercial scale in the next generation geothermal space, early-stage developments will likely require “unique developer classes with strategic motivations” who “will likely fund projects entirely with equity.”

The Energy Department estimates that at present, a 30 MW next-generation geothermal project of the type needed in an Aleutian context likely costs about $450 million to complete all surface and subsurface work. Such a project could be built with a combination of a grant and a low-interest federal loan, on the condition that development emphasizes next generation geothermal technologies of U.S. origin. Abundant geothermal energy could revolutionize Aleutian energy supplies and set the stage for a broader geoeconomic push to scale new geothermal opportunities in Taiwan, Indonesia, the Philippines, and elsewhere across the Indo-Pacific to the benefit of partner and U.S. interests alike.

 

[Moonbeam]

The energy solutions best suited to my way of thinking lean toward power generated by solar greenhouses using transparent solar cells. Solar food and energy farms could provide not just electrical energy but food crops protected from weather events. Electricity can also give you water from the atmosphere for hydroponics One thing I have long wondered about is whether tapping the heat in the magma chambers of volcanoes could prevent their eruption bu drawing enough heat away to solidify the magma.

 

[sdifox]

Kind of surprised Taiwan hasn't done more geothermal. It's on the Pacific ring of fire after all.

 

[sdifox]

The energy solutions best suited to my way of thinking lean toward power generated by solar greenhouses using transparent solar cells. Solar food and energy farms could provide not just electrical energy but food crops protected from weather events. Electricity can also give you water from the atmosphere for hydroponics One thing I have long wondered about is whether tapping the heat in the magma chambers of volcanoes could prevent their eruption bu drawing enough heat away to solidify the magma.

Not sure solar and wind handle typhoons all that well.

 

[dullard]

The energy solutions best suited to my way of thinking lean toward power generated by solar greenhouses using transparent solar cells. Solar food and energy farms could provide not just electrical energy but food crops protected from weather events. Electricity can also give you water from the atmosphere for hydroponics

You certainly could do solar powered greenhouses, but it is overkill. Plants generally thrive underneath solar panels with typically a pretty good increase in yield without needing a greenhouse. They just have to be planted so that the opaque solar panels block the overhead sun in the hottest month of summer. That shade prevents them from being sun burnt and requires far less water on those hot days. It even allows more profitable spring/fall plants to be grown in summer.

Not sure solar and wind handle typhoons all that well.

Most solar panels are designed and tested for 141 MPH winds. So, even the typical run-of-the mill solar panel can withstand category 3 typhoon and even some category 4 winds. You would need a solar panel specifically made for strong winds for category 5 storms wind speeds.

It is the projectiles that are the bigger issue. My solar panels are rated to survive 3" hail at 88 mph, but I did buy quality panels (IEC/UL 61730 rating). Beyond that, you need movable panels to direct them away from the direct projectiles. Or, just realize that solar panels are almost free relative to the other costs (it is the steel structures to hold the panels, electrical wiring, inverters, and land that is expensive) and just replace the damaged ones.

 

[sdifox]

You certainly could do solar powered greenhouses, but it is overkill. Plants generally thrive underneath solar panels with typically a pretty good increase in yield without needing a greenhouse. They just have to be planted so that the opaque solar panels block the overhead sun in the hottest month of summer. That shade prevents them from being sun burnt and requires far less water on those hot days. It even allows more profitable spring/fall plants to be grown in summer.


Most solar panels are designed and tested for 141 MPH winds. So, even the typical run-of-the mill solar panel can withstand category 3 typhoon and even some category 4 winds. You would need a solar panel specifically made for strong winds for category 5 storms wind speeds.

It is the projectiles that are the bigger issue. My solar panels are rated to survive 3" hail at 88 mph, but I did buy quality panels (IEC/UL 61730 rating). Beyond that, you need movable panels to direct them away from the direct projectiles. Or, just realize that solar panels are almost free relative to the other costs (it is the steel structures to hold the panels, electrical wiring, inverters, and land that is expensive) and just replace the damaged ones.

It is not the wind speed that would trash the solar farm, it's the flying objects. I am from Taiwan so I am familiar with typhoons.

 

[sdifox]

The energy solutions best suited to my way of thinking lean toward power generated by solar greenhouses using transparent solar cells. Solar food and energy farms could provide not just electrical energy but food crops protected from weather events. Electricity can also give you water from the atmosphere for hydroponics One thing I have long wondered about is whether tapping the heat in the magma chambers of volcanoes could prevent their eruption bu drawing enough heat away to solidify the magma.

We don't have the means to draw out enough energy to prevent eruption.

 

[Moonbeam]

You certainly could do solar powered greenhouses, but it is overkill. Plants generally thrive underneath solar panels with typically a pretty good increase in yield without needing a greenhouse. They just have to be planted so that the opaque solar panels block the overhead sun in the hottest month of summer. That shade prevents them from being sun burnt and requires far less water on those hot days. It even allows more profitable spring/fall plants to be grown in summer.


Most solar panels are designed and tested for 141 MPH winds. So, even the typical run-of-the mill solar panel can withstand category 3 typhoon and even some category 4 winds. You would need a solar panel specifically made for strong winds for category 5 storms wind speeds.

It is the projectiles that are the bigger issue. My solar panels are rated to survive 3" hail at 88 mph, but I did buy quality panels (IEC/UL 61730 rating). Beyond that, you need movable panels to direct them away from the direct projectiles. Or, just realize that solar panels are almost free relative to the other costs (it is the steel structures to hold the panels, electrical wiring, inverters, and land that is expensive) and just replace the damaged ones.

Thanks. I started to reply to sdifox and got sidetracked. Steel and glass are built into Greenhouse food production anyway and clear panel solar is just a recent innovation that allows simultaneous farming of electricity. My first thought about high wind was the damage caused by flying debris but if humanity turned to under glass farming for renewable energy and food production on a world wide scale I pictured rather fast expanses of glass around which there would be little to blow free. The one issue I am not really sure about is whether high velocity air flow over a greenhouse etc would create any lift that might blow the roof off.

 

[sdifox]

Thanks. I started to reply to sdifox and got sidetracked. Steel and glass are built into Greenhouse food production anyway and clear panel solar is just a recent innovation that allows simultaneous farming of electricity. My first thought about high wind was the damage caused by flying debris but if humanity turned to under glass farming for renewable energy and food production on a world wide scale I pictured rather fast expanses of glass around which there would be little to blow free. The one issue I am not really sure about is whether high velocity air flow over a greenhouse etc would create any lift that might blow the roof off.

Greenhouses don't do well with hurricane strength winds. Not to mention debris strikes. Once the envelope is breached, it will lift easily.

 

[Moonbeam]

We don't have the means to draw out enough energy to prevent eruption.

That is true. The state of our knowledge and technology suggest it is not possible.

 

[MrSquished]

This is communism!

 

[Moonbeam]

This is communism!

Indeed! Real men burn coal.