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Thank you for joining us and I look forward to your participation in the coming weeks and months. Now, let's get to the latest... 

Rasoul Sorkhabi

Editor, Core Elements

MIT Technology Review Recognizes EGS Potential

Enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) was recently named one of MIT Technology Review’s “10 Breakthrough Technologies 2024.”

Huge potential: Earth’s interior is a giant heat engine, but geothermal currently accounts for less than 1 percent of global renewable energy generation.

Early leaders: MIT’s report highlights three parties engaged in EGS.

1. Utah FORGE (Frontier Observatory for Research in Geothermal Energy) funded by the DOE, is an underground field lab operating a drilling and testing project in central Utah. This project addresses many of the technological challenges in drilling and fracture stimulation of “hot dry and tight” granitic rocks.

2. Fervo, the company that tested EGS viability in its Nevada site in 2023, has started a new venture in central Utah adjacent to Utah FORGE project.

3. AltaRock Energy uses what it calls SuperHot Rock Geothermal, which it says can “yield up to 10 times more energy than a conventional geothermal well and allow geothermal to scale globally.”

How it works: EGS utilizes fracture stimulation techniques (as applied to shale formations) to create fluid flow pathways in the rock formation. Water is then injected to produce steam for power generation.

Challenges: EGS is not without challenges, including induced seismicity by fracture stimulation. Research and testing are essential to overcome these potential risks.

Big goals: By 2026, Utah FORGE aims to provide a well-tested platform for EGS, with the hope of revolutionizing geothermal power generation and contributing to a cleaner energy portfolio.

Why it matters: MIT Technology Review is sending an encouraging signal to geoscientists and engineers around similar ventures in other parts of the world where hot dry rocks are accessible.

Go deeper: Read all “10 Breakthrough Innovations 2024” selected by MIT Technology Review on the magazine’s website.

Lithium Mining’s Effects on Indigenous Peoples in Argentina

“After the (White) Gold Rush,” by the Buenos Aires-based journalist Amelia Rayno, follows the plights of indigenous Kolla and Atacama peoples who live on the lands where international companies mine lithium.

The article, published in The Progressive, reveals hidden costs, conflicts, and challenges in mining lithium—dubbed white gold.

Context: With electrification strategized as a main path for a low-carbon world, industrial demand for lithium used in electrical vehicle batteries is rapidly growing.

• By 2050, the U.S. alone is projected to need three times the lithium currently produced globally. There is only one lithium mining site in the U.S., located in Nevada.

• Argentina has become a recent hotspot for lithium mining, attracting several international corporations. There are three active lithium mines and nearly forty lithium development projects in Argentina.

Why it matters: The report highlights several issues that need to be addressed by industries, governments, and corporations.

Key takeaways:

• The report suggests that producing lithium carbonates from brines by evaporation in large ponds (artificially created for this purpose) is destructive to landscape, indigenous communities, and wildlife. In particular, it depletes water resources, which harms communities living in arid lands.

• It is time to replace lithium mining by evaporation with technologies that extract metals directly from brines then re-inject the produced water underground. This is where scientists and engineers can play a major positive role.

• Despite claims of generating economic prosperity, lithium mining has created less than 1 percent of local jobs in Argentina’s indigenous communities. The report calls for the global community to monitor mining policies in the Lithium Triangle—Argentina, Chile, and Bolivia—under higher scrutiny.

Dive deeper: Read The Progressive’s full article here. The Associated Press published a similar report worth a read, too.

Geoscience Features in Oil and Gas Investor’s “Shale Outlook 2024”

A recent issue of Oil and Gas Investor includes a 40-page special section on “Shale Outlook 2024.” A few of its anticipated trends and developments are of particular interest to geoscientists.

What to watch: The report includes 11 articles on various trends and topics. Key takeaways for geoscientists include:

• A continued Permian power up. The region is producing 62 percent of oil production in the lower 48 and has grown into a super basin with the priciest acreage. “Inventory scarcity is fueling a historic wave of consolidation across the Permian as U.S. shale enters a new phase of maturation,” the report says.

• Haynesville gas highlights. The Haynesville Shale will play a huge role in U.S. LNG export. Upper Jurassic-age Haynesville shale is a gas-prone formation stretching from northwestern Louisiana into eastern Texas. Although a deep play, its proximity to the Gulf of Mexico makes it attractive for companies like Chesapeake, Southwestern, and Comstock.

• Argentina leads. Outside the USA, Argentina’s Vaca Muerta is the hottest shale for both oil and gas production. Located in the Neuquén basin, Vaca Muerta is projected to produce >1 million barrels a day by 2030.

• Innovation will be essential in EOR. New chemicals are needed for super enhanced oil recovery in shale formations, but developments are in the works. Shale Integrity and Titan Oil Recovery Company are both working on chemicals that break down oil molecules to release them from tight pores in the reservoir.

• Water recycling will need to be revamped. Better technologies to reuse, recycle, and recover produced water from shale formations are also going to prove necessary. The shale formation waters produced in huge volumes daily contain critical metals that can be extracted. The produced waters can then be injected or treated in an environmentally safe manner.

Go deeper: The entire report is available for purchase on their website.

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