West Australian
Thursday 12/4/2007 Page: 12
People could be using "green nuclear" energy in their homes within three years as entrepreneurs rush to produce zero-emissions electricity. Geodynamics Ltd told the Australian Stock Exchange yesterday it had sped up plans to harness the heat generated by natural nuclear activity deep beneath the country's central desert.
The company plans to pipe high-pressure hot water from the granite bedrock 4km beneath the Queensland-South Australia border, where the slow decay of potassium, thorium and uranium generates temperatures as high as 3000.
"The granite is hot because of the natural nuclear activity in there," chief executive Adrian Williams said. "It's green nuclear." Dr Williams expects the Geodynamics to send electricity to the national power grid by 2010 and later directly to western Sydney. By 2015 it could produce as much power as the Snowy Mountains hydro scheme.
Some scientists say hot-rocks technology could deliver huge volumes of economically viable power, thanks to the continent having the hottest and most geologically favourable granite deposits on Earth. "There's enough energy to run the country for thousands of years," said Prame Chopra, a scientist who sits on the Geodynamics board.
According to a conservative estimate by the Centre for International Economics, Australia has enough geothermal energy to meet electricity consumption for 450 years. The industry has strong backing in Canberra. "I've been a fan for a long time," Minister for Industry Ian Macfarlane said yesterday.
The granite in South Australia's Cooper basin contains "fractures" that hold super-hot, high-pressure water. It could power a steam turbine then recycle water back into the bedrock for reheating. The hotter the water, the more efficiently it can be converted into electricity.
Australia is home to the world's six listed hot fractured rock geothermal energy companies. One, Petratherm, recently signed a memorandum of understanding to supply geothermal electricity to SA's Beverley uranium mine by late 2009. Torrens Energy, which listed on the stock exchange three weeks ago, is exploring hot sites near Adelaide.
The main impediment to the renewable energy industry is that the nation's electricity is among the cheapest in the world, thanks to huge deposits of coal. But geothermal energy is set to be economically viable after a moderate cost is imposed on greenhouse gas emissions.
Geodynamic, aided by $11.8 million in Federal grants, said it would produce one megawatt of electricity for about $45 an hour compared with coal power of about $35. Prime Minister John Howard's task force on nuclear energy estimated the cost of nuclear energy at $40-$65,"clean coal" at $50- $100 and photovoltaic solar energy as high as $120.
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