Knowing a thing or two about drilling (worked in the oil patch for several years in between college) I think y'all may be missing a key point, a point they just gloss over in the article...water. Just exactly how much water are we talking about here? Drilling takes massive amounts of water. Not just a "lot", no, massive amounts. Water also happens to be one of the biggest byproducts of drilling, so the problem solves itself...in most places. California isn't in one of those "most places" category. Hydraulic fracturing ('fracking' as most people know it) takes even more water, lots more...like multiples more (and sometimes even orders of magnitude more). It's not uncommon for a single well to require (2) 16" water lines at 100 psi to feed the drilling process, and we're not even to the fracturing process yet; this requires even more, and at significantly higher pressures (like thousands of psi).
Yes, saltwater can be used for some of this, but Salton lake is about 85 miles at it's closest point to the ocean. Yes, pipelines could be built to bring this water from the ocean, but you'd be looking at a massive infrastructure project to build pipelines from just north of San Diego over to Salton Lake, half of which runs through the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. Water obtained from the wells likely cannot be used because as they note in the article it's more of a mud or slurry. Yes, the drilling process also requires a type of mud, but it's a different kind of mud, not that kind of mud. It's a special kind of mud of water mixed with bentonite clay. So, the water from the well would have to be clarified first before it could be re injected back into the wells. Then there's all the aquifer and subsidence issues (which the CA enviro-maniacs will have an aneurysm over...and they don't care if it's for the 'greater good').
I think the water challenges with this project are likely being under-represented. The Environmental Impact Statement(s) alone will likely take decades to complete...with Kalifornia trying to throw a monkey wrench into every step along the way.
I'm not trying to rain on this parade here; I think it's awesome they've found something which will reduce our dependence on China. However, in the same breath, I am just trying to frame the scale of an operation like this in the proper light.
Yes, saltwater can be used for some of this, but Salton lake is about 85 miles at it's closest point to the ocean. Yes, pipelines could be built to bring this water from the ocean, but you'd be looking at a massive infrastructure project to build pipelines from just north of San Diego over to Salton Lake, half of which runs through the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. Water obtained from the wells likely cannot be used because as they note in the article it's more of a mud or slurry. Yes, the drilling process also requires a type of mud, but it's a different kind of mud, not that kind of mud. It's a special kind of mud of water mixed with bentonite clay. So, the water from the well would have to be clarified first before it could be re injected back into the wells. Then there's all the aquifer and subsidence issues (which the CA enviro-maniacs will have an aneurysm over...and they don't care if it's for the 'greater good').
I think the water challenges with this project are likely being under-represented. The Environmental Impact Statement(s) alone will likely take decades to complete...with Kalifornia trying to throw a monkey wrench into every step along the way.
I'm not trying to rain on this parade here; I think it's awesome they've found something which will reduce our dependence on China. However, in the same breath, I am just trying to frame the scale of an operation like this in the proper light.