Rich Offshore Geothermal Potential at Diverging Crust

A groundbreaking and largely untapped energy source awaits beneath the ocean floor, as outlined in a whitepaper by geoscience technology consultancy CGG. Distinctive conditions beneath the seabed offer the potential for more affordable and readily accessible geothermal energy.

Solar and wind energy alone cannot fully transition us to a clean energy grid. Geothermal power presents a promising solution for clean energy production. The vast energy stored in the hot rocks beneath our feet exceeds humanity’s needs for millennia, but it’s not meant as a challenge, especially for entities like OpenAI and Bitcoin miners.

Geothermal Energy

By harnessing geothermal energy, either directly through heat utilization or by generating electricity from it, we have access to a constant and abundant energy source that is available worldwide and doesn’t rely on specific weather conditions. Additionally, the infrastructure costs for geothermal energy are manageable, making it a viable option for sustainable energy production.

However, despite its potential, geothermal energy accounts for less than 1% of global energy production. This is because accessibility varies greatly depending on location: while hot rocks exist beneath the surface almost everywhere, they are more accessible in certain areas where they are closer to the surface compared to others where they are buried deep underground, making extraction economically challenging – at least until advanced drilling technologies like particle beam drills become available.

Moreover, exploration drilling for geothermal energy is costly and often unsuccessful. As a result, companies tend to focus on areas with known potential, such as the Indo-Pacific “Ring of Fire,” a tectonic zone stretching from the West coast of the Americas to the Eastern tip of Russia, encompassing East Asia and New Zealand. Essentially, where there are volcanoes, geothermal energy development is more feasible.

Complexities in Volcanic Regions

However, according to renewable energy consultancy CGG, these volcanic regions are diverse and complex, requiring tailored approaches for each location, and temperatures decrease rapidly as one moves away from the volcanoes.

On the contrary, CGG suggests that a much more consistent and vast geothermal resource exists on the ocean floor, precisely where tectonic plates are constantly moving apart, generating new segments of crust through seafloor spreading.

In vast undersea rifts spanning approximately 65,000 square kilometers (25,000 square miles), the Earth’s magma lies close to the surface due to the movement of tectonic plates, creating a continuous flow of molten rock that solidifies into new crust. This environment offers higher success rates compared to onshore drilling and provides consistent temperatures and geothermal fluids.

Challenges and Solutions for Offshore Geothermal Resources

Similar to ideal conditions found in places like southern Iceland, where volcanic activity has formed accessible land ridges, these offshore resources are significantly larger. However, despite their accessibility, they are farther from existing electrical grids. Therefore, in many cases, it may be more practical to harness steam from turbines to produce green hydrogen through electrolysis, which can be shipped or converted to ammonia for sale, with excess fresh water as a by-product.

CGG has developed a patented technology combining geological, geophysical, and engineering approaches to explore and exploit these resources, with the intention of facilitating their rapid development without patent barriers. The company plans to offer licensing at reasonable rates in developed countries and affordably in underdeveloped nations.

While it is premature to assess the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCoE) for offshore geothermal projects, innovations such as ultra-deep particle beam drilling could potentially unlock geothermal energy worldwide. With increasing global energy demands from clean sources, offshore geothermal energy may play a crucial role in meeting future needs.

Read the original article on: New Atlas

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