To the right you will see an illustration of just how geothermal power operates. Basically, one would drill into the Earths absorbed heat (this includes heating from solar radiation as well as from the mantle of the Earth) and deposit water. The water heats up, turning into steam, which generates electricity.
There are a few different reasons that I like this form of alternative energy. First of all it has 100% consistency (the inside of the Earth is always hot and will always stay hot, where as the wind doesn’t necessarily blow all the time to turn wind mills and fossil fuels evertually run out). Actually, a good list of pros is found at http://www.energy-consumer-edge.com/ . Straight from the site, the pros are as follows:
“Once in operation, geothermal plants may be the most reliable of all energy production methods. Since they are fundamentally simpler than most other power systems, there is less to go wrong.
Other factors that contribute to the impressive reliability of geothermal systems:
They require no purchase or transport of fuel.
They require no waste disposal.
They can be used either as base load systems or swing with demand.
They have no intermittency or dispatchability problems. (A discussion of these problems can be found on the Pros and Cons of Wind Power page.)
It’s noteworthy that every geothermal energy facility that has been built in the last 100 years is still in production.
In geologically suitable areas, geothermal energy is currently cost competitive with conventional generation methods.”
They can be used either as base load systems or swing with demand.
They have no intermittency or dispatchability problems. (A discussion of these problems can be found on the Pros and Cons of Wind Power page.)
It’s noteworthy that every geothermal energy facility that has been built in the last 100 years is still in production.
In geologically suitable areas, geothermal energy is currently cost competitive with conventional generation methods.”
HOWEVER it is worth noting that for geothermal energy to become the main source of power for the US there are still some advances that must be made. For example:
“ Geothermal power plants do have high initial costs to drill and construct new facilities.” These costs are primarily because:”current cost figures are based on projects that are located at the best geothermal sites.” This means that the geothermal power as it is used today has to be used around fault lines and areas of geothermal activity fairly close to the Earths surface. The technology must still be refined to be able to place one anywhere and just drill til’ you hit heat.
These hydrothermal hot spots don’t occur everywhere. “In the U.S. they are located in the Western States, Alaska, and Hawaii.
To be both usable and economical a site must have an adequate volume of hot water or steam that is not too impure to use, a surface water source to cool generating equipment, and close proximity to power transmission lines. So, even in promising areas, economically usable sites are few and they are difficult to locate.”
However, if these advances could be made, geothermal energy could be a never ending supply. It is said that geothermal energy will outlast the sun. The following graph illustrates just how much energy is unused beneath the Earths crust:
Units: Billions of barrels of oil equivalent
Crustal Heat—————–79,000,000
Thermal Aquifers——————–130
Oil Reserves———————–5,300
That is an outstanding amount of unused energy, and if I were running an energy company, I would be pumping millions into research. Think about it: if I was originally an oil tycoon, and I ran out of oil, I still retain the property rights to that plot of land. After the oil is sucked up, I could simply reorganize the machinery and replace whatever needed to be replaced, and dig a little further down to reach the depth that would be needed to find the adequate ammount of heat to run the machinery. THAT is a huge reason why geothermal energy tops my list of supported green energy alternatives.
This post cross posted at http://www.ktracy.com/ and linked at http://www.mattersofopinion.net/
