The Untapped Energy Source That Could Power the Planet | Jamie C. Beard | TED

Deep beneath your feet is a molten ball of energy the same temperature as the surface of the sun -- an immense clean energy source that could power the world thousands of times over, says technologist and climate activist Jamie C. Beard. How do we tap it? She lays out a surprising solution, and an unlikely alliance, to harvest geothermal energy from the Earth's core and get it to anywhere in the world.

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[Chris-htng]

14 year olds have been doing this in modded Minecraft for years. They're ahead of their time I'm telling ya.

[jeremytoms]

Another idea, in some areas they are repurposing closed, deep mines as heat pumps. Once the mine hits a certain depth you have heating from the mantle to deal with. What they're doing is putting pipework in place and extracting that heat for area heating. It's not quite hot enough to drive a turbine but it's hot enough to heat houses etc. This in turn takes some of the heating load off of the energy grids and out of the environment. Not a miracle cure as you still need pumps but once installed it's cheaper than running boilers etc. How many other abandoned deep mines that could be used for this? Doesn't need drilling, just pipe fitters.

[PerryPerfectPerson]

My college ran off of geothermal energy. I enjoyed it besides the random pockets of ground that were warm and would freeze the rest of the ground did in winter. Got a little muddy at times.

[welkinator]

Amazing! I was in the oil fields in the 1970's and asked my self - and others around me - why we couldn't do this. The Iceland example was, is and for a long time has been right in our face. The energy of the Earth is condensed like that in a battery unlike solar which is dispersed and dissipated by the square of the distance from radiator to collector.

[skelitalmisfit]

The fracking side of this makes sense however, i think we have proven that it can cause much more harm than good in most circumstances. The drilling of fanned out tunnels on the other hand is what would make this incredibly efficient. If you drill enough fanned holes, you wouldnt need the fracking at all.

[danielli]

1:21 till 1:24 lol that 3 seconds of silence, she was totally hoping for someone to say "yaaa ur so coool, man i never thought of that"

[ting]

Areas with fracking now have a lot more earthquakes, that's my main concern

[rnedlo]

I was in the oil&gas business, retired now. We got a lot of flack from all sides, but everything you have, for better or for worse, comes because dedicated people get up in the morning and work really hard for long hours to get the resources we all need to continue our lifestyle. Using them to fix a problem is the best way, they are amazing people. If anyone can do it, give it to them, they will.

[michaelscollay]

A major reality check is needed on all projects that endeavour to use geothermal sources. If it was easy, ask why it isn't the most pervasive form of clean energy already? We've been drilling deep oil & gas wells for ages then why? What skittled Geodynamics was hydrogen embrittlement. Deep rocks have heaps of hydrogen ions and these come up in the water that may already be there or injected into the well to tap the heat. Result is that pipes, joints, turbines etc. will fail unpredictably. If you decouple the source heat and water from the thermal cycle, then that adds cost and transfers the problem to the heat exchangers. You could use ceramics, but these technologies are not cheap. The result is power between three and six times the cost of Solar and Wind. This current result does not stand up to cost and risk analysis

[KylePandapatan]

This solves like 3 or more world problems in one. 😳👏 Hats off to her and her team. This may very well save humanity.

[craigreed]

This makes me cautiously optimistic. I am excited for the potential this idea has and how it uses existing technology and skill sets to achieve a huge goal. Now we need the political will to see this through as well as mindfully address unforeseen issues with this approach that may not be readily apparent at this early stage.

Nonetheless, I admire the creativity and innovation I am seeing. We may yet hand our children and grandchildren a cleaner, more thriving world than how we found it.

[usauniversal]

All dreamers out there this is temporary situation it will pass don't lose hope your success will come just keep moving forward don't give up ✊✊✊💪💪💪

[janedoe]

Question: At 68, retired, doing what I can to reduce my oil consumption, heat still not on yet, despite temps in 40/50's...recycle, composting an recycling...how can I used/promote Geo Thermal Energy in my life? Who would I contact to promote this system?

[WhiteSpatula]

BRAVO! It’s beyond disheartening to see umptillionaires outdo each other by jumping to new industries and leaving old ones in ruins. What’s merely a game of financial hot potato to them too often treats ordinary folks with unconscionable apathy, leaving them to scramble for new employment and housing, not to mention outright mercy. To treat an entire workforce and the families they support as a top priority while mapping a pivotal shift in the very industry that their lives and livelihoods rely upon.. girl.. you’re a human among humans. That there’s beautiful. Tell your mom she’s getting likes on that old wombwork. Bravo! -Phill, Las Vegas

[ScribaeEducantum]

Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines, practiced every day. - Jim Rohn

[heinzn]

Love it! Hopefully we could keep it at a public’s work project and ownership for all of us to enjoy almost free energy but too temping for old oil to not corner this market! Thanks for staying on the game and hopefully steering the ship some

[robertnathan]

Nice video and Thank you also for recommending your broker jessica Robert, her services are exceptional and I've been earning greatly from investing with her

[ChrisSeltzer]

Isn't this the reason Superman had to leave Krypton?

[soleus]

While this sounds encouraging/promising, I can't help wondering, how/does this avoid the pitfalls of shale focused fracking, which has been said to cause earthquakes to happen?

[egnielson]

Anyone remember when you used to come to TED to learn new stuff?