David Suzuki: Tapping Earth's abundant geothermal energy

David Suzuki's article in the Georgia Straight highlights the enormous potential of geothermal energy especially in BC where hydro dams are twice as expensive to build.

Despite the many benefits of geothermal, Canada is the only “Pacific Ring of Fire” country that doesn’t use it for commercial-scale energy. According to the Desmog Blog: “New Zealand, Indonesia, the Philippines, the United States, and Mexico all have commercial geothermal plants.” More accurately 70 countries around the world use geothermal, and the technology has been used for over 100 years.

What the article does not mention is the technology to extract Lithium and other valuable minerals from the water before it is reinjected has been developed in a number of location. This could mean safe environmentally friendly extraction of minerals, without having to mine for the minerals.

The article also does not expand on how local economies flourish using the hot water by-product from these power plants. In some cases, the hot water is used to heat city apartments, provide hot water for city showers keep sidewalks free of snow, grow bananas in cold climates, heat greenhouses, facilitate local brewing operations, etc.