At night I can hear a distant thrum of a generator. The source of the sound is linked to the drilling site of the geothermal project near the Wotten Waven Sulphur Springs.
When I drove by one day I was quite amazed at the apparatus, heavy equipment and signage around the site. When the opportunity to attend a meeting about the project presented itself, I gladly attended. The two speakers were well informed and patient with the audiences’ questions about environmental impact, risk factors and sound pollution. Wotten Waven is the last of three sites to be explored with drilling down to 1000 feet.
The greatest cost is the exploration, which could be easily witnessed when looking at the site apparatus. However, this cost is passed on to the consumer once the project is up and running. If Dominica is able to produce geothermal energy sufficiently, the country becomes an exporter for less money instead of an importer which costs money.
For the eight years I’ve lived on Dominica, I’ve heard the glowing possibilities of geothermal but saw very little action toward that end until now. So what I wanted to know is the bottom line—– is geothermal a costly mistake or a sound financial investment? Here are the pros and cons:
Advantages –pros
- It is a renewable source of energy.
- It is a sustainable source of energy.
- There is practically unlimited potential for its usage.
- It is environmentally friendly. The carbon food print of the plant is minimal.
- It requires no fuel.
- It is reliable.
- It uses the smallest amount of land to generate it.
- There is no coal or nuclear fuel to mine or transport.
10. There are no emissions of carbon dioxide, particulates or combustion by products.
11. There is no radioactive waste or ash waste.
Disadvantages – cons
1. Environmental issues include green houses gases from below the earth’s surface reaching above the surface to contribute negatively to global warming or acid rain. These can carry traces of heavy metals such as mercury, arsenic, and boron BUT they are much less than fossil fuel and coal emissions.
2. Construction can affect the stability of the land by causing quake. However the speakers at the meeting addressed this issue by explaining Dominica’s drilling doesn’t need to go very far down and the possibilities of earthquakes are almost nil. An Environmental Impact Assessment was done for all three sites.
3. Earthquakes can also occur if hydraulic fracturing is used. Dominica would not need this.
4. The exploration is expensive. Dominica has received money from various sources to help with this.
5. The geothermal energy must be injected back into the earth or be depleted.
6. Geothermal operation is expensive…. $ 2-7 million for 1 milo watt.
7. A large area of flat land is needed to be able to dig out lay pipes.
8. Geothermal heat pumps and compressors consume energy.
9. The mutual set up costs is expensive but in the long run great savings are beneficial.
You now can better decide for yourself if geothermal energy will be a plus for Dominica and its nature isle paradise. The bottom line is that geothermal energy is environmental safer than most other energy sources. It is cost effective in the long run, sustainable and reliable. How much of an influence it will have on energy system s worldwide in the future is dependent on technological advancements, energy prices and political interests.
