Then we have closed-loop systems.
然后我们就有了闭路系统。
Closed loops are pretty new. It's another really hot area of innovation.
闭环是很新的东西,这个领域也很热衷于创新。
Same concept, basic is EGS, you have one or more wells drilled, you create a reservoir underground, but in closed loops, instead of fracturing to create that reservoir underground, it's entirely drilled, like a radiator in the rock.
同样的概念,以EGS为基础,用一个或多个钻井,你在地下创造一个储藏槽,但是在闭路系统中,不用压裂的方式来创造,而是完全钻探,就像岩石中的暖气炉。
And they take many forms too, just like EGS, check it out.
它们也有很多形式,就像EGS一样,看看吧。
You can see in closed-loop systems how useful it is to be able to turn and steer that drill bit right?
你可以看到,在闭路系统中,若能转动、控制钻头就会很有帮助。
Totally enabling in terms of getting these concepts to work.
若能办到,就能让这些概念成真。
Another really cool aspect of closed-loop systems, another fierce area of innovation right now, is what we're putting in these systems as the working fluid to harvest the heat.
闭路系统的另一个很酷的方面,也是目前另一个火热的创新领域,就是研究要在这些系统中放入什么样的液体来取得热能。
Most of the time it's water.
大多数时候是用水。
But what if we could optimize a fluid to perform better than water?
但是,如果我们可以优化一种流体,使其表现得比水更好,结果会怎样呢?
So it heats up faster than water at lower temperatures than water.
相较于水,它能在较低的温度以较快的速度加热。
And the really cool thing about closed loops is the going candidate, right, one everybody loves right now to put in these systems to most efficiently harvest heat is actually a substance that's the center of our climate angst right now.
闭路很系统酷的一点就是备选的材料,现在大家最想用来放到系统中来有效取得热能的物质,正是我们担心的气候问题最核心的物质。
It's around us in excess in abundance. It's CO2. Super cool.
它在我们周围大量存在,就是二氧化碳。超酷的。
So then there's hybrids, not the cars, geothermal hybrids.
然后是混合动力,不是汽车,是地热混合系统。
You take the best of both worlds, right?
把两个领域最好的东西结合。
You get the increased surface area and heat that you get from fracturing rock.
你可以从压裂岩石中获得更大的表面积和热能。
You combine that with a closed-loop well design so you can use that optimized fluid.
你可以将其与闭路井设计相结合,这样你就可以使用优化的液体。
The goal of hybrid systems is to extract the most heat, minimize drilling costs.
混合系统的目标是提取最多的热量,最大限度地降低钻井成本。
So that's what's happening right now. A lot of innovation. It's really, really cool.
这就是现在正在发生的事情。有很多创新。非常非常棒。
But these concepts, none of them are without their technology challenges.
但是这些概念,每一个都面临技术挑战。
But y’all, these are not moonshots. They are not moonshots.
但是各位,这不是登月。它们不是月球探测器。
We are talking about making very incremental changes to existing technologies, methods and techniques with an eye on more hotter and deeper geothermal development.
我们在谈的是一步一步循序渐进做改变,改变既有的科技、方法、技术,着眼在开发更多、更高温、更深层的地热。
And these also aren't just ideas.
而且这些也不仅仅是想法。
There are teams right now in the field demonstrating these concepts.
现在已经有团队在实地演示这些概念。
Teams like Sage Geosystems, a team that I mentor.
包括我指导的Sage Geossystems团队。
This is a well that they are demonstrating this summer in -- get this -- Texas.
这是他们今年夏天在德克萨斯州展示的一口井。
Not in Iceland, not on the side of a volcano, not in the ring of fire.
不是在冰岛,不是在火山边,不是环太平洋火山带。
This is a Texas pasture where you would never suspect the enormous geothermal resources that lie below.
这是一个德克萨斯州的牧场,你绝对不会想到这里有大量的地热源藏在底下。
And this well is an existing abandoned oil and gas well that they have repurposed for this geothermal demonstration.
这口井是一口现有的废弃油气井,他们将这座井改为地热展示用。
If all goes well with this demonstration, by 2022, that is next year, they will have a geothermal power plant in Texas.
如果这次演示进展顺利,到2022年,也就是明年,德克萨斯州就会拥有一座地热发电厂。
There are dozens of examples like this, right now in the field. These are all start-ups.
还有数十个像这样的实做例子。这些都是新创公司。
They're out there proving geothermal concepts, new technologies, new drilling, the concepts that I showed you in the slides.
他们正在证明地热概念、新技术、新钻探,这些都是我在幻灯片中向你们展示的概念。
We are in the midst of a geothermal renaissance.
我们正处于地热复兴之中。
In the past 18 months, more geothermal start-ups have launched than in the past 10 years combined.
在过去的18个月里,地热新创公司数目比过去10年的总和还要多。
If even one of these start-ups is successful at proving a scalable geothermal concept, we are literally off to the races in developing this massive, reliable 24/7 clean energy source anywhere in the world.
如果这些初创企业中有一家能够成功地证明扩大规模的地热概念,那么我们在世界上任何地方开发这种巨大的、可靠的全天候清洁能源的竞赛就真的开始了。
And by off to the races, I mean that, right?
我说进入比赛是说真的。
Like, we got to go. The clock is ticking, we need scale.
我们得动起来了,时间不等人,我们得把规模做大。
It's going to be cute if it works, but we've got to have global scale.
如果它成功了,我们必须扩大到全球规模。
So how do we do that? It brings me to my proposition.
那么我们该怎么做呢?这就要带出我的提议了。
So it turns out that there is an industry that is perfectly positioned to take us from the few geothermal power plants we have today to the hundreds of thousands that we need to meet demand.
事实证明,有一个产业定位非常理想,可以把我们从今天仅有的几个地热发电厂带到能满足我们需求的数十万个地热发电厂。
The industry that everyone loves to hate, who cares about the environment and climate, is that industry.
每个人都想要去恨这个产业,在乎环境和气候的每个人,就是那个产业。
To scale geothermal, what do we need to do?
要扩大地热规模,我们需要做些什么?
We need to efficiently, effectively and safely drill below the surface over and over and over and over again.
我们需要有效率,有效益、安全的方式,一次又一次地在地表下钻探。
And who does that now?
现在是谁在这么做呢?
The oil and gas industry does that now.
石油和天然气行业现在就是这样做的。
The oil and gas industry is a global specialized workforce of millions, backed by almost 200 years of breakthrough technological innovation, all aimed at exploring for, drilling forand producing energy from deep underground.
石油和天然气行业是一支拥有数百万人的全球专业劳动力队伍,以近200年的突破性技术创新为后盾,目标都是探戡、钻掘、制造来自地底的能源。
You flip the switch and you have green drilling.
你拨动开关,就可以进行绿色钻探了。