Geothermal Waste Disposal

That's it! Sweep the problem under the carpet!

What if we place the storage where the plates would drag it under.

T h e y m o v e i n c r e d i b l y s l o w l y.

( Even slower than a politician implementing his election promises! )

Del

Yeah but if it's one inch closer to being disposed of then that better than we are doing today with stockpiling it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CO2_sequestration

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioactive_waste

Every tried drilling a hole through rock that flows like molasses?

Every tried drilling through a material that is at a higher temperature than the melting point of the drill bit?

Even if you solve the first two problems, once you reach the magma chamber it will have an escape route to the surface and it will be rather difficult to pump waste down the hole while magma is erupting from it!

I don't see any feasability to this whatsoever!

IPG

IPG

If it was possible to drill that hole, we'd all be doing it to use the Geothermal energy source and would have solved the whole global warming CO₂ problem, and with all the cheap energy we would probably be able to recycle or process the waste!

Del

What if the use of Geothermal power by humans accidentally sunk Atlantis?

IMHO this is more likely the answer to power generation, not waste disposal. See the following ilnk.

http://www.iddp.is/

While this details a project in Iceland, the simple fact is that if you drill deep enough anywhere ion the planet you will reach a depth where the temperature is high enough to create useful energy through geothermal generation.

Some years ago there was an attempt to drill some geothermal wells in the South of England, an attempt thwarted by the relative hardness of the rocks. In the 15-20 years since then drill bit technology has moved on remarkably so it may be time to re-address this.

Additionally, small scale "ground loop" technology can reduce the use of hydrocarbons and this can be achieved using extremely shallow boreholes.

The answers are out there; it's just a matter of taking the first steps.

I dont off-hand know where any Geothermal energy recovery is being implemented within the US (I believe there are a few), but there are certainly areas within our borders (esp. NW Wyoming) where such projects would appear feasible.

Some potential in Yellowstone Park

Bad idea. You run the risk of groundwater contamination, release of toxic sulfurous gases from the magma, possible release of toxic byproducts from the burning of the wastes etc, and all that is assuming you succeed in drilling through molten rock first.

I guess the main problem, once you solved the srill bit part, would be that the magma would want to come up the hole you just drilled, rather than let the bad stuff you want to get rid of go down. Having an active volcano on your property (being the likely result) might tend to make your neighbors mad at you.

pressure and temperature control is something that has been done in the oil drilling industry for a long time. the same techniques (albeit on a different scale) can be applied there

I know:

We can get these guys as garbage collectors/disposers !!

Besides all the above mentioned problems, something that bothers me is natures balance. If it was possible to tap into the magma and burn the trash, heat the water, and use it for energy on a mass worldwide basis, there would be a significant cooling of the inner layer. What would be the result of that action?