Could Earth's Heat Solve Our Energy Problems?

German mechanical engineer here. Greatly appreciate the in-depth video as always. I wanted to point out some big potential drawbacks of geothermal energy you did not include in the video. 1. Geothermal energy is not boundless as the video suggests. Following the first law of thermodynamics, a natural occurring geothermal reservoir (or aquifer as it is known in the field) or a man-made one thanks to EGS, is bound to lose temperature over time due to the fact that we pump out more heat than we reinject. This inevitably causes a decrease in the aquifers temperature, which in turn causes a diminished steam production which then reduces the amount of generated electricity by turbine/generator. Some sources suggest that the average aquifer requires roughly 30 years until the original temperature is reached again. 2.Scaling/ Fouling. This is probably one of the greatest technical problems with geothermal plants nowadays. Since the water used for direct steam generation or secondary cycle heat transfer is coming from ca.3-4 km underground, it is saturated with different minerals, the most common being SiO2 (quartz) and CaCO3 (limestone). The chemical nature and type of the minerals is highly dependent on the location of the geothermal plant, but you can research them further if you'd like. Rapid changes in pressure and temperature along the pipes leads to the precipitation of these minerals (Scaling/Fouling) and unfortunately quite frequently to the failure of vital mechanical components such as pumps and heat exchangers. This leads to frequent halts of electricity production in most geothermal power plants. Sorry for the long comment, I just feel passionate about the subject since it was the topic of my thesis!

Captions: English (Ireland)

Real Engineering: "We can use Earth's heat for energy" Kurzgesagt: Dyson Sphere

In my country of new Zealand about 16% of electricity comes from geothermal. With plants running at full capacity around 95% of the time.

Real engineering can you do a video on the next generation of nuclear power plants and their efficiencies. The recycling an re-usability of nuclear waste is really interesting in terms of safe and long term nuclear energy and energy sustainability, but people are so scared of the word there is little media coverage on it. cheers.

Wendover: planes RealLifeLore: Toyota corolla Real engineering: Rock.

I have been to Bath. It blew my mind that the humble, little channel seen at 4:16 still functions ceaselessly as a drain even though it was built so long ago by the Romans.

Great video and amazing graphics and writing! Looking forward to more :)

Where is all the geothermal energy? Answer: it’s underground.

Real Engineering: probably the most famous example of a hot spring in bath england. Japan: NANI!!

"I told you harvesting the core was suicide" Superman's dad

When "right below our feet" means kilometres under, you understand there is a reason this old dream is so hard to achieve.

Tap the Yellowstone. Either get renewable energy or 2012. A win-win scenario.

didnt expect to be seeing Real Engineering handing out YangGang pamphlets

While much of the interest is in heating we must also remember that a huge portion of our energy use is cooling. A drill/well wouldn't have to go down far enough to capture heat. In any geographic area that is burdened by cooling costs, using the shaft as a heat exchanger can work backwards without the excessive depth required to reach a heat source. We're only talking about 30-40 feet.

I love how he provides us with references throughout tthe video. Excellent work!

Wait I’m not an engineer but isn’t this how we awake the Balrog?

Supposing how Minuite pysics made a thing about how to make a lava moat and how to power it, the main solution was geothermal... Coinidence... I THINK NOT!

"Around the Pacific ring, this tech is common." Meanwhile, me in Peru: What's the name of that?

Thank you for creating a video on geothermal. Usually, a serious discussion about renewable energy sources completely bypasses geothermal. With newer techniques beyond what is mentioned in the video, perhaps geothermal can be given the respect it deserves.