A Response to Chris Sladen’s Energy Matters – Pause for Thought
https://anzmex.org/energy-matters-vol-25-pause-for-thought/
In his op-ed Energy Matters – Pause for Thought, Chris Sladen highlights some recurring themes in our historical track record of energy development. The pursuit of simple, accessible, and affordable energy without the drawbacks of excess cost or complex information has created a self-reinforcing cycle of implementing new technology first and only considering their long-term environmental implications later.
Sladen highlights how the exploration of hydrocarbon applications over 150 years ago effectively revolutionized transport, power generation, lighting, heating, and general quality of life. However, these applications were far-reaching and widely enjoyed without consideration for potentially negative future outcomes, and “centuries later, we eventually realized and accepted the consequences for the climate and the air we breathe.”
The current state of affairs surrounding energy production and the global shift towards renewable alternatives presents itself as a promising way forward, but not without the risk of repeating past mistakes. Renewable alternatives, which so far focused largely on wind and solar, are said to comprise 80% of the global electricity demand growth in the next 10 years (1). While developments in this field have been numerous and impressive, they are not without their shortcomings. Intermittency and surface footprint have been highlighted as some of the greatest challenges for wind and solar alternatives, which are available only when the wind blows or the sun shines, and obscure hundreds of acres of land wherever they are installed.
“Renewables, particularly wind, solar and hydro, will soon cover hundreds of thousands, eventually many millions, of square kilometres of the planet’s surface. They typically have a large ‘footprint’. They obscure the landscape.” – Sladen
Eavor Technologies’ patented Eavor-Loop solution presents a new, reliable way forward that addresses the valid concerns raised by Sladen. By harnessing the geothermal potential of the Earth itself, Eavor-Loop is not subject to the intermittency issues experienced by traditional wind and solar. It is therefore able to provide scalable, green, dispatchable power on demand. As a completely emissions-free technology, Eavor-Loop also has the world’s most benign environmental impact and surface footprint. Unlike the fields of sky-scraping wind turbines or solar panels that commandeer countless acres of open space to build operational solar and wind farms, the Eavor-Loop is an underground solution that prioritizes the preservation of the Earth’s natural landscape. With the majority of an Eavor-Loop facility built underground, Eavor could literally fit in a large residential lot, meaning no massive fenced-off areas, no wildlife displacement, and no kilometre-wide gouges in the Earth.
“Eavor’s brand of geothermal is the missing link in Earth’s energy mix as it’s the one truly scalable solution that is clean and dispatchable.” – John Redfern, President & CEO
