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Jeff Bielicki

Jeff Bielicki
Jeff Bielicki
Civil, Environmental & Geodetic Engineering

Can We Turn Unwanted Carbon Dioxide Into Electricity?

Typical geothermal power plants tap into hot water deep under ground, pull the heat off the water, use that heat to generate electricity, and then return the cooler water back underground. The plants are also mostly confined to California and Nevada, where very hot water is relatively close to the surface. Bielicki and his colleagues are developing a new kind of geothermal power plant that will lock away unwanted carbon dioxide underground—and use it as a tool to boost electric power generation by at least 10 times compared to existing geothermal energy approaches. Carbon dioxide extracts heat more efficiently than water—so much more efficiently that even smaller-scale “hotspots” throughout the western U.S. could generate power. In this talk, Bielicki will discuss the interactions between geothermal energy, environmental systems and policy, with a focus on how energy systems have evolved, and how this evolution can be directed in ways that improve environmental, economic and social conditions.

Bielicki is an assistant professor of energy policy in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geodetic Engineering and the John Glenn School of Public Affairs.

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