Landman' Season 2 Episode 6 Explained: Will There Be a Wedding?

"I read an article this week in The New York Times about how some oil drilling companies in Texas are converting their know-how into alternative, geothermal power stations. Sounds complicated, I know. But how it works, basically, is that they turn a massive heat pump into a big battery. It might just fix our renewable energy problem. Hell, it might solve everything about the industry that Tommy's so grumpy about in Landman as well."

"Deep underground wells that are connected to the planet's natural, hot-water reservoirs pull the water up and generate power by spinning massive turbines. Then, the hot water that was brought to the surface is sent back down to keep the process going. It's better than burning crude oil into a community's air, accidentally leaking it into the drinking water, and destroying the planet's environment in general."

"Still, I'm not certain that the ol' landman wouldn't be too keen on it. In season 1, Tommy gives a whole speech about how we've already doomed ourselves to a petroleum-based infrastructure. Our whole world depends on it, he says. And you know what the kicker is? We're gonna run out of it before we find a replacement. Well, maybe somebody better teach Taylor Sheridan about geothermal energy so we can get a jump-start on this whole operation."

Some Texas oil drilling operations are converting well infrastructure into geothermal power stations that function like massive heat pumps and thermal batteries. Deep wells tap hot-water reservoirs to bring heated water to the surface, drive turbines to generate electricity, and then return water underground to sustain the cycle. This approach offers dispatchable renewable power and reduces air pollution, groundwater risk, and other environmental harms associated with crude oil extraction. The concept could address intermittency in renewables. The Permian Basin International Oil Show in Fort Worth represents the industry context where such technological shifts and cultural resistance intersect with oil-centered identities.

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