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from the taking-hot-springs-to-the-next-level dept.
Friday, March 11, 2011, Japan was rocked by the largest earthquake ever to strike its shores. The 9.1 magnitude quake triggered a devastating tsunami that killed more than 15,000 people. It also took out the back-up emergency generators that cooled the reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant complex, causing a series of catastrophic meltdowns.
But amid the chaos, the Yanaizu-Nishiyama geothermal power plant in Fukushima prefecture didn't miss a beat. Along with two more of the nine geothermal power plants in the region, the 65-megawatt facility continued to generate power, even as many other power plants around them failed because of damaged equipment and transmission lines.
[...] In a country as seismically active as Japan, it was a clear signal that geothermal energy was worth investing in.
http://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2017/1/15/14270240/geothermal-energy
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Tuesday January 17 2017, @08:10AM
(fricken headline limits)
I fail to see how "seismically active" and "geothermal energy" match. They aren't making energy out of earthquakes, they're making energy out of digging holes in the ground and using the heat differential to make energy.
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 5, Informative) by tfried on Tuesday January 17 2017, @09:13AM
The connection as given in the summary seems somewhat far-fetched, indeed. However, the two are related:
1. You need a large enough heat source underground, close enough to the surface to make geothermal drilling viable. That tends to be much more common in tectonically / seismically active regions.
2. Geothermal drilling does appear to cause (relatively small) earthquakes. I suppose in a country where people are used to and prepared for earthquakes of all magnitudes, this risk will seem much more acceptable than in more stable regions.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by compro01 on Tuesday January 17 2017, @04:59PM
I suppose in a country where people are used to and prepared for earthquakes of all magnitudes, this risk will seem much more acceptable than in more stable regions.
I imagine that may be a side benefit. The amount of tectonic potential energy is finite, so bleeding some of it off in a whole bunch of unnoticeably small quakes makes the next big one that much less big.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Tuesday January 17 2017, @06:27PM
OMGOMGOMG! Stop the Evil Geothermal greenies now, they will pump out all the quakes and cause them tectonics to stop!!!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 18 2017, @01:30PM
Or it speeds up the overall movement and causes the next big one to arrive a bit sooner. Flip a coin.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday January 17 2017, @10:40AM
I fail to see how "seismically active" and "geothermal energy" match.
Unless you plan to try, no one is matching the two. The story states that the geothermal plant in Fukushima didn't shut down during the course of the earthquake and aftermath. It's merely an advantage of geothermal over nuclear for large earthquakes.
(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Tuesday January 17 2017, @10:49AM
Why is geothermal resistant to earthquakes? The technology is essentially the same as any other plan, i.e. a big turbine and a cooling water circuit. If anything it is more sensitive because the water circuit has to go km underground.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Tuesday January 17 2017, @01:20PM
It isn't, it was just luck. That's the irony of the story.
You get some hand wavy about geothermal has to be where the heat is, so statistically not so many are 100 feet from the ocean. Meanwhile nuke operates at 10 to 100 times higher power and simply has to be coastal. Unfortunately tsunamis are also coastal.
The luck factor is IF the geothermal had to be built right on the coast because thats where the heat is, then it would have been just as wiped out.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 18 2017, @01:35PM
And when the next tsunami hits, all that radioactive lava smothers the whole area !!
No wait some water and/or steam escape, I'm sure you will notice that in the middle of a fucking tsunami and mag 9 earthquake...
(Score: 2, Insightful) by khallow on Tuesday January 17 2017, @03:05PM
Why is geothermal resistant to earthquakes? The technology is essentially the same as any other plan, i.e. a big turbine and a cooling water circuit. If anything it is more sensitive because the water circuit has to go km underground.
Point is nuclear requires considerable inspections before it'll be allowed back in operation. The geothermal plant can just keep running.