An Untapped Endowment
Geothermal Engines Possible for Pump Jacks?
One new technology that Dr. Ian Potter will evaluate is Arizona-based Deluge Inc.’s Natural Energy Engine, a non-combustible engine that uses geothermal energy, essentially replacing conventional diesel- or gasoline-powered pump jacks at wellheads.
The engine contains high-pressure, liquefied carbon dioxide that is heated and cooled, causing expansion and contraction. This change in volume pushes and pulls on a piston, creating mechanical energy.
Dr. Rick Richardson, P.Geol., former manager of the Alberta Geological Survey, estimates that even one per cent of the energy contained in the subsurface aquifers could dwarf the remaining oil and gas reserves in the basin.
“We have a huge resource endowment that’s untapped, combined with a huge oil and gas infrastructure,” explains Dr. Richardson, who recently retired and is now consulting to the Alberta Geological Survey. “The Earth is always producing heat and transferring it into aquifers.” The study, he says, will focus on non-potable and saline underground aquifers.
“We’re tying to match the geology to the technology. You can’t just do it anywhere — there has to be an end user with fairly substantial heating and cooling needs.”
Geothermal technology is improving, oil and gas is becoming less abundant — and researchers are looking seriously at a new resource: water heated by the Earth itself.
At present, there are more than 30,000 heat pump installations in personal residences and commercial facilities across Canada. At Springhill, N.S., heat pumps extract energy from 18 C waters in a flooded coal mine to heat and cool a nearby industrial complex.
Natural Resources Canada’s Office of Energy Efficiency reports that the Springhill geothermal project offsets the need for oil-fired electrical power generation, creating an annual energy savings of $45,000.
