When Going Green Is Not The Right Thing To Do,

I have yet to see a practise where going green does not cost more,

or the advantages so mega it is not worthwhile, unless we are talking about thermal energy, where in places like Iceland it is cost effective, energy for free all you have to do is tap it, it appears that thermal energy can be found in many places, like for instance under the German town of Staufen, located on the edge of the Black Forest, the 8,100 residence back in 2007 decided to go green, and drill underground to tap the thermal energy there, but it all went horribly wrong, the town rests on a layer of soft anhydrite, below which is a layer of groundwater confined to an aquifer, it was this combination which proved to be fatal for the Baden Württenburg hamlet, when the drills hit the groundwater, it poured into the anhydrate, which soon formed gypsum and expanded by about 50 percent, over 270 buildings have suffered fractures in the ten years since and things don’t appear to be getting any better,

in some places the town of Staufen has risen nearly 62 centimetres and moved sideways by 45 centimetres, causing buildings to pull apart, two houses have been demolished already, and the town fears that several more buildings will need to be torn down to avoid accidental collapsing, demolitions are necessary because structures are not shifting uniformly, but instead different parts of a building are shifting by slightly different amounts, so repairs are virtually impossible,

“Fractures have become our daily companions,” resident Csaba-Peter Gaspar told The Local, His apartment is located in the town’s historic core and has suffered significant damage, pumps in Staufen are working around the clock to dredge groundwater and minimise imminent damage, but while they have helped reduce the buildup of cement and slow down the rise of the ground to millimetres from the initial phase of several centimetres, it is uncertain how long they will need to be in operation before things go back to normal, “I’m working on the assumption that we’ll be grappling with this problem for several more years, probably even decades,” Staufen’s mayor said,

 but there is some good news, despite this serious catastrophe, the Berlin-based German Geothermal Association insists that the benefits outweighs the risks, and that geothermal energy remains a smart and environmentally sound option, I guess they do not live there! I wonder if the people of Staufen and the towns of Böblingen, Rudersberg and several other towns who are also having the same problem will be pleased to hear it, for me? give me nuclear or coal, both of which if properly managed are the only 24 hour, 7 days a week solution to our energy needs.