由阿尔伯塔大学教授MartynUnsworth领导的研究团队在过去的夏天前往加拿大努纳武特地区的Resolute Bay和Cambridge Bay社区进行地表研究，以评估该地区的地热潜力。

此次活动是通过QulligEnergy Corporation获得的联邦资金进行的，该公司是该地区唯一的电力供应商和分销商，与Respec Inc.合作进行。

在这两个社区，团队发现了岩石和水，表明存在可以用于发电的地热资源。这是Unsworth根据50年代和60年代该地区的石油勘探数据提出的假设。Unsworth还提到，在育空地区和不列颠哥伦比亚省也发现了类似的条件。

在此举措之前，加拿大地热能协会（CanGEA）已经发布了努纳武特地区的地热资源地图。

除发电外的其他好处努纳武特地区几乎完全依赖25个独立柴油发电厂供能。每年，约有5500万升柴油被运送到努纳武特社区。由于该地区的偏远性和恶劣的天气条件，所有这些工作都必须在夏季进行。

然而，开发地热能提供的好处不仅仅是减少对柴油的依赖。地热能可以为住宅和农业设施提供供暖，使社区能够在本地种植食物。这将抵消定期向社区运送食物的高成本。

Unsworth评论道：“这是世界上许多国家的经验，他们最初只是使用地热能发电，然后意识到热量同样有价值。所以人们在北欧使用地热能为温室供暖，种植蔬菜，因为外面太冷了。”

ResoluteBay社区是滑铁卢大学博士生Carson Kinney研究地热能对可持续食品生产影响的三个研究地点之一。研究发现，在温室中使用地热供暖可以获得比运送食物到社区更低50%的平均成本的新鲜农产品。

Kinney表示：“在社区建立温室的想法提供了食品安全、本地产出和与蔬菜本身的归属感。”

努纳武特地区的地热未来

根据QulliqEnergy Corporation发言人Tina Nleya的说法，联邦和地方政府一直在积极合作，探索和开发努纳武特地区的地热能。通过加拿大北方经济发展署，联邦政府已经拨款120万加元，继续在该地区进行地热评估。

Nleya表示，整个地热勘探项目预计耗资20亿加元，将于2030年至2031年完成。这将是一个四阶段的深入研究，评估该地区的地热能产能。

来源：Yahoo!News

Aresearch team led by Universityof Albertaprofessor Martyn Unsworth spent the past summer in the communities of Resolute Bay and Cambridge Bay to conduct surface studies that will help assess the geothermal potential in the territory of Nunavut in Canada.

Thecampaign was executed through thefederal funding received by the Qullig Energy Corporation,the sole electricity provider and distributor in the territory, in partnership with Respec Inc.

Inboth communities, the team found rocks and water that indicate that there is a geothermal resource that can be used to generate electricity. This is a hypothesis that Unsworth has ad based on data from oil exploration in the region from the 50’s and 60’s. Unsworth also mentioned that similar conditions have been found in Yukon and British Columbia.

Priorto this initiative, the Canadian Geothermal Energy Association (CanGEA) hadalready published a geothermal resource mapfor Nunavut.

Benefitsbeyond electricity generationTheterritory of Nunavut relies almost completely on the 25 standalone diesel power plants for energy. Each year, approximately 55 million liters of diesel are sealifted to the Nunavut communities. All of this has to be done during the summer given the remoteness and harsh weather conditions of the region.

Developinggeothermal, however, offers benefits beyond just that of lifting this dependence on diesel. Geothermal energy can provide heating for homes and agricultural facilities, allowing the communities to grow food locally. This will offset the high costs of having to ship food regularly to the communities.

“That’sbeen the experience in many countries around the world where traditionally they started off just using geothermal energy to make electricity and then realized that actually the heat is just as valuable. So people use geothermal heat to heat greenhouses to grow vegetables in Northern Europe where it’s too cold outside,”commented Unsworth.

Thecommunity of Resolute Bay is one of three sites studied by Carson Kinney, a PhD student at the University of Waterloo, to assess the impact of geothermal energy on sustainable food production. The study found that geothermal heating in greenhouses can yield fresh produce with an average cost that is 50% lower than having to ship them to the community.

“Theidea of greenhouses in communities — it provides food security, local produce, and a sense of belonging with the vegetables themselves,”said Kinney.

Thefuture of geothermal in Nunavut

Accordingto Tina Nleya, Spokesperon of Qulliq Energy Corporation, the federal and territorial governments have been actively working together to explore and develop geothermal in Nunavut. Through the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency, the federal government has granted $1.2 million in funding to continue the geothermal assessment in the region.

Nleyasaid that the entire geothermal exploration project is expected to cost $2 billion and will be completed in 2030 to 2031. This will be a four-phase in-depth study to evaluate the territory’s capacity for geothermal energy production.

Source:Yahoo!News