In one of my more off-beat moments I came up with the vision of a string of Stirling heat engines along the Humboldt River powering a series of generators. Utilizing the geothermal potential of this extremely active geological area for heat while using the cold river water for cooling could give at least this local area a source of almost free electicity for years to come. The only drawback I see is some years the Humboldt runs dry so there would have to be an alternative cooling mechanism available for those times.

Interesting factoid: The Humboldt River is the longest, and crookedest, river in the USA. It doesn't go anywhere, though. From just outside of Wells, Nevada in Elko County the river runs for over 3,000 river miles only to end up running out into the Humboldt Sink playa and drying up in the desert sun. Pretty wierd, eh?

Tags: Heat Engines

2 comments View Entry

I've wondered what the holdup is when it comes to developing geothermal energy sources. I live on the upper reaches of the Humboldt River in northeastern Nevada and the geothermal potential here is enormous. This area is seemingly awash with hotsprings, fumerols, and the like. Unfortuneately, there has only been two geothermal projects attempted here. One, at Nightingale near the town of Lovelock, Nevada and the other in Crescent Valley (somewhat south of Beowawe) both are somewhat experimental and under utililzed. In the meantime the local mining operations have just developed a "clean coal" power plant to run their operations while they have had to close some tunnels because of extreme temperatures encountered. There has to be a way to develope these resources with existing technology but so far the interest is lacking.  

Tags: Humboldt Basin

9 comments View Entry