Posted on 12/17/2009 7:51:42 AM PST by TigerLikesRooster
December 17, 2009
Head of Geopower Basel faces jail for causing earthquakes
David Charter
A geologist searching for cheap, clean energy is facing up to five years in jail for causing a series of earthquakes after drilling 3 miles (5km) down in an effort to generate electricity from hot rocks.
Markus Häring, the head of Geopower Basel, a thermal energy company, was testing pioneering technology to blast cold water deep underground and create steam to drive electric turbines. Mr Häring’s company had to stop when it recorded an earthquake measuring 3.4 on the Richter scale and a series of smaller tremors that led to 3,500 claims for damages from homeowners and a compensation bill of SwFr9 million (£5.4 million).
The drilling took place in the centre of Basle. The Swiss city lies on a faultline and was devastated by an earthquake in the 14th century.
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...
The alternative energy crowd eats its own.
Wow..sounds like a potential weapon of mass destruction.
If they have a 3.4 and are getting damages, they need to talk to their counterparts in Japan and California for newer designs..............
he’s got nothing over Cheney’s hurricane generator.
Note to self: next time, don’t drill on a fault line.
And I thought Cheney was using an earthquake making device in Iran based upon a Nicolas Tesla formula..
Wouldn’t that be the easiest place to drill? :)
why drill so deep? didn’t algore state as fact that only 1 km down the temperature was millions of degrees? Seems one only needs to drill about 2000 ft and tap into all the energy one could ever desire (/sarc)
If you prevent 3.4’s now, you’ll have a 7 or 8 later. I always thought that causing small earthquakes could be good preventive medicine.
Wasn’t this one of Lex Luthor’s ideas?
Bush invented the Climate Change Machine according to the lefty nuts. I believe Cheney and Bush had a falling out over where to use the Hurricane Machine back in ‘04. I believe Bush wanted to use it on San Fransisco. But Cheney pushed the “button” on New Orleans before Bush.
Whoa! That's getting pretty close to China....I hope he didn't drill into that 2 million degree temperature that Al Gore was talking about.......
How could anyone know that the quake and tremors were caused by the drilling, and not simply a coincidence?
Errr ... Geothermal is only possible AT THE FAULT LINES or "Volcanic Hot Spots" because that is where there are 'accessible thermal hot spots'.
Richter quakes in the 3-3.9 area are classified as "Often felt, but rarely causes damage." Most likely these were MINOR and visual surface cracks and window breakage as well as fallen object damage.
Huh?
My guess is that it is impossible for a drilled hole to create an earthquake. Unless the drilled hole had the diameter of the Texas stadium...
Actually you won't.
A Magntitude 7.5 earthquake releases approximately 800,000 times more energy than a magnitude 3.5 earthquake, hence you'd need Eight hundred thousand 3.5s to "prevent" a 7.5.
The magnitude scale is logarithmic in terms of ground shaking (each full magnitude is 10x more) but in terms of energy release it's about 30x per full magnitude.
It’s not the drilling of holes. It’s the injection of fluids down the hole.
It’s been pretty well established this can cause earthquakes.
http://www.nyx.net/~dcypser/induceq/iis.html
The other means for induced earthquakes is the filling of an artificial reservoir; the extra weight on the bedrock in the area of a lake can be immense.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.