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Spring 2014 EMERGING ISSUES IN EARTH RESOURCES ENGINEERING The BRIDGE LINKING ENGINEERING AND SOCIETY Geothermal Energy: An Emerging Option for Heat and Power Roland N. Horne and Jefferson W. Tester Shale Gas Development: Opportunities and Challenges Mark D. Zoback and Douglas J. Arent Supplying Society with Natural Resources: The Future of Mining—From Agricola to Rachel Carson and Beyond Leigh W. Freeman and R. Patrick Highsmith Mining Goundwater for Sustained Yield John D. Bredehoeft and William M. Alley Carbon Dioxide Capture, Utilization, and Storage: An Important Part of a Response to Climate Change Sally M. Benson and S. Julio Friedmann Geologic Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel: An Earth Science Perspective John A. Cherry, William M. Alley, and Beth L. Parker The mission of the National Academy of Engineering is to advance the well-being of the nation by promoting a vibrant engineering profession and by marshalling the expertise and insights of eminent engineers to provide independent advice to the federal government on matters involving engineering and technology. The BRIDGE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF ENGINEERING Charles O. Holliday Jr., Chair C.D. (Dan) Mote Jr., President Maxine L. Savitz, Vice President Thomas F. Budinger, Home Secretary Venkatesh Narayanamurti, Foreign Secretary Martin B. Sherwin, Treasurer Editor in Chief: Ronald M. Latanision Managing Editor: Cameron H. Fletcher Production Assistant: Penelope Gibbs The Bridge (ISSN 0737-6278) is published quarterly by the National Aca d emy of Engineering, 2101 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20418. Periodicals postage paid at Washington, DC. Vol. 44, No. 1, Spring 2014 Postmaster: Send address changes to The Bridge, 2101 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20418. Papers are presented in The Bridge on the basis of general interest and time- liness. They reflect the views of the authors and not necessarily the position of the National Academy of Engineering. The Bridge is printed on recycled paper. C © 2014 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. A complete copy of The Bridge is available in PDF format at www.nae.edu/TheBridge. Some of the articles in this issue are also avail- able as HTML documents and may contain links to related sources of information, multimedia files, or other content. The Volume 44, Number 1 • Spring 2014 BRIDGE LINKING ENGINEERING AND SOCIETY Editors’ Note 3 Emerging Issues in Earth Resources Engineering Mary P. Anderson and Charles Fairhurst Features 7 Geothermal Energy: An Emerging Option for Heat and Power Roland N. Horne and Jefferson W. Tester Renewed interest in geothermal energy is the result of world economic and political forces as well as its environmental attributes, high capacity factor, base load character, and technological advances that make it more accessible. 16 Shale Gas Development: Opportunities and Challenges Mark D. Zoback and Douglas J. Arent The development of shale gas resources in an environmentally responsible manner presents a critical opportunity to move toward decarbonizing the global energy system. 24 Supplying Society with Natural Resources: The Future of Mining—From Agricola to Rachel Carson and Beyond Leigh W. Freeman and R. Patrick Highsmith Emerging and affluent economies make challenging bedfellows when weighing the value of structural steel against the value of a bird’s song. 33 Mining Goundwater for Sustained Yield John D. Bredehoeft and William M. Alley The long response time of groundwater systems can complicate the task of managing this valuable resource. 42 Carbon Dioxide Capture, Utilization, and Storage: An Important Part of a Response to Climate Change Sally M. Benson and S. Julio Friedmann Carbon capture with storage in deep geological formations is a critical tool for achieving large and rapid emission reductions in the coming decades. 51 Geologic Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel: An Earth Science Perspective John A. Cherry, William M. Alley, and Beth L. Parker A geologic setting with appropriate engineered barriers offers good prospects for containment in a secure long-term deep geological repository of nuclear waste. (continued on next page) The BRIDGE NAE News and Notes 60 Tribute to NAE President Emeritus Charles M. Vest 61 NAE Class of 2014 65 Message from Outgoing NAE Vice President Maxine Savitz 67 National Academy of Engineering 2013 Donor Recognition 80 NAE Newsmakers 83 2014 National Meeting 84 2013 EU-US Frontiers of Engineering Held in Chantilly, France 86 Mirzayan Fellows Join Program Office 87 New NSF Grant Supports Expansion of NAE’s Online Ethics Center 87 Energy Ethics in Science and Engineering Education— Project Outcomes 88 Educating Engineers to Meet the Grand Challenges 88 Calendar of Meetings and Events 88 In Memoriam 90 Publications of Interest The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self- The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National perpetuating society of distin guished scholars engaged in scientific Acad e my of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and appropriate pro fes sions in the examination of policy matters pertaining technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the author- to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility ity of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional char- has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal gov ern ment on ter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own scientific and technical matters. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone is president of the initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine. The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, The National Research Council was organized by the National under the charter of the Nation al Academy of Sciences, as a parallel Academy of Scienc es in 1916 to associate the broad community of organization of out stand ing engineers. It is autonomous in its adminis- science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of fur ther ing tration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National knowledge and advising the federal government. Func tion ing in Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal gov - accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the ernment. The National Academy of En gi neer ing also sponsors engi- Council has become the principal operating agency of both the neering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages edu- National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engi- cation and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of neering in providing services to the government, the public, and the engineers. Dr. C. D. Mote, Jr., is president of the National Academy scientific and en gi neer ing communities. The Council is administered of Engineering. jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone and Dr. C. D. Mote, Jr., are chair and vice chair, respec- tively, of the National Research Council. www.national-academies.org FALL 2006 3 Editors’ Note lithosphere—the deepest mine is 4 km and the deep- est borehole 12 km. Traditionally, engineers work at relatively small spatial and temporal scales relevant to a specific site (e.g., a mine) or facility (e.g., a spoils pile), while earth scientists are concerned with much larger scales as they study whole Earth processes. However, in recent decades this distinction has blurred as engineers design on bigger scales and longer time periods (e.g., geological repositories for high-level radioactive waste) and earth scientists provide input on site-scale problems Mary P. Anderson Charles Fairhurst (Cornet 2014, Chapter 1; DOE 2007). In 2008 the NAE published a report on grand chal- Mary P. Anderson (NAE) is professor emerita, Department of lenges for engineering (NAE 2008), which prompted Geoscience, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Charles Fairhurst (NAE) is senior consultant, Itasca Consulting Group, Minneapolis, the Academy’s ERE section to develop some grand chal- and professor emeritus, Department of Civil Engineering, University lenges specific to ERE (NAE Section 11 2010). The six of Minnesota. papers in this issue of the Bridge highlight some emerg- ing issues in ERE related to those challenges. Four of the Emerging Issues in Earth six papers discuss extraction of earth resources: energy resources (shale gas/oil and geothermal), minerals, and Resources Engineering groundwater; the other two concern challenges of car- Earth resources engineering (ERE) has roots in min- bon sequestration to deal with the consequences of ing and petroleum engineering but more broadly is burning fossil fuels and geological repositories for high- engineering applied to the discovery, development, level radioactive waste resulting from the production of and production of subsurface earth resources such as nuclear energy. minerals, hydrocarbons, groundwater, and geothermal energy. Production of such resources includes mineral Grand Challenges for Earth Resources processing and the application of technology for envi- Engineering ronmental remediation. Earth resources engineers also The overarching grand challenge for ERE is “to supply apply technology to isolate industrial waste products society with its essential needs for energy, minerals, and (e.g., radioactive