Deep Geothermal Heating Potential for the Communities of the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin
We summarize the feasibility of using geothermal energy from the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin (WCSB) to support communities with populations >3000 people, including those in northeastern British Columbia, southwestern part of Northwest Territories (NWT), southern Saskatchewan, and southeaster...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3390/en14030706 |
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ftmdpi:oai:mdpi.com:/1996-1073/14/3/706/ 2023-08-20T04:08:49+02:00 Deep Geothermal Heating Potential for the Communities of the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin Jacek Majorowicz Stephen E. Grasby 2021-01-30 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.3390/en14030706 EN eng Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute H2: Geothermal https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/en14030706 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Energies; Volume 14; Issue 3; Pages: 706 heat flow deep geothermal heat foreland basin WCSB energy transfer Text 2021 ftmdpi https://doi.org/10.3390/en14030706 2023-08-01T00:58:11Z We summarize the feasibility of using geothermal energy from the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin (WCSB) to support communities with populations >3000 people, including those in northeastern British Columbia, southwestern part of Northwest Territories (NWT), southern Saskatchewan, and southeastern Manitoba, along with previously studied communities in Alberta. The geothermal energy potential of the WCSB is largely determined by the basin’s geometry; the sediments start at 0 m thickness adjacent to the Canadian shield in the east and thicken to >6 km to the west, and over 3 km in the Williston sub-basin to the south. Direct heat use is most promising in the western and southern parts of the WCSB where sediment thickness exceeds 2–3 km. Geothermal potential is also dependent on the local geothermal gradient. Aquifers suitable for heating systems occur in western-northwestern Alberta, northeastern British Columbia, and southwestern Saskatchewan. Electrical power production is limited to the deepest parts of the WCSB, where aquifers >120 °C and fluid production rates >80 kg/s occur (southwestern Northwest Territories, northwestern Alberta, northeastern British Columbia, and southeastern Saskatchewan. For the western regions with the thickest sediments, the foreland basin east of the Rocky Mountains, estimates indicate that geothermal power up to 2 MWel. (electrical), and up to 10 times higher for heating in MWth. (thermal), are possible. Text Northwest Territories MDPI Open Access Publishing British Columbia ENVELOPE(-125.003,-125.003,54.000,54.000) Canada Northwest Territories Energies 14 3 706 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
MDPI Open Access Publishing |
op_collection_id |
ftmdpi |
language |
English |
topic |
heat flow deep geothermal heat foreland basin WCSB energy transfer |
spellingShingle |
heat flow deep geothermal heat foreland basin WCSB energy transfer Jacek Majorowicz Stephen E. Grasby Deep Geothermal Heating Potential for the Communities of the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin |
topic_facet |
heat flow deep geothermal heat foreland basin WCSB energy transfer |
description |
We summarize the feasibility of using geothermal energy from the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin (WCSB) to support communities with populations >3000 people, including those in northeastern British Columbia, southwestern part of Northwest Territories (NWT), southern Saskatchewan, and southeastern Manitoba, along with previously studied communities in Alberta. The geothermal energy potential of the WCSB is largely determined by the basin’s geometry; the sediments start at 0 m thickness adjacent to the Canadian shield in the east and thicken to >6 km to the west, and over 3 km in the Williston sub-basin to the south. Direct heat use is most promising in the western and southern parts of the WCSB where sediment thickness exceeds 2–3 km. Geothermal potential is also dependent on the local geothermal gradient. Aquifers suitable for heating systems occur in western-northwestern Alberta, northeastern British Columbia, and southwestern Saskatchewan. Electrical power production is limited to the deepest parts of the WCSB, where aquifers >120 °C and fluid production rates >80 kg/s occur (southwestern Northwest Territories, northwestern Alberta, northeastern British Columbia, and southeastern Saskatchewan. For the western regions with the thickest sediments, the foreland basin east of the Rocky Mountains, estimates indicate that geothermal power up to 2 MWel. (electrical), and up to 10 times higher for heating in MWth. (thermal), are possible. |
format |
Text |
author |
Jacek Majorowicz Stephen E. Grasby |
author_facet |
Jacek Majorowicz Stephen E. Grasby |
author_sort |
Jacek Majorowicz |
title |
Deep Geothermal Heating Potential for the Communities of the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin |
title_short |
Deep Geothermal Heating Potential for the Communities of the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin |
title_full |
Deep Geothermal Heating Potential for the Communities of the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin |
title_fullStr |
Deep Geothermal Heating Potential for the Communities of the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin |
title_full_unstemmed |
Deep Geothermal Heating Potential for the Communities of the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin |
title_sort |
deep geothermal heating potential for the communities of the western canadian sedimentary basin |
publisher |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/en14030706 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-125.003,-125.003,54.000,54.000) |
geographic |
British Columbia Canada Northwest Territories |
geographic_facet |
British Columbia Canada Northwest Territories |
genre |
Northwest Territories |
genre_facet |
Northwest Territories |
op_source |
Energies; Volume 14; Issue 3; Pages: 706 |
op_relation |
H2: Geothermal https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/en14030706 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/en14030706 |
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Energies |
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14 |
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3 |
container_start_page |
706 |
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1774721352352137216 |