Geothermal Energy and The Earth

By Abe Monhegan


Geothermal power is actually energy of which can be generated through the Earth's individual warming energy. People perhaps recall from six grade science class that the interior of the Planet, which is filled with magma, heats till amazingly hot levels, in reality it gets warmer as opposed to sun in that area! Sometimes this heat can make its in place to the crust of the world in the form of volcanoes and can also show itself itself in by means of geysers and fumaroles like those in Yellowstone National Park.

Although it might appear to be this kind of heating could be unpredictable and uneasy to manage, this is really not true. Actually, much like wells for oil, wells can be drilled into the floor to bring up steam and hot water you can use for heating or producing energy.

Geothermal energy can be used since antiquity. Indigenous peoples, ancient Romans as well as the Chinese utilized hot mineral Springs for heating, cooking and even bathing in. Today there are a couple of types of geothermal technologies.

A geothermal heat pump utilizes the consistent temperature within the upper 10 feet from the Earth's crust. Here, the temperatures are consistently between 50 and 60F. Pipes can be buried only at that depth as well as in winter heat in the warmer ground can be pumped into an adjacent building then in summer the cooler air can be pumped in to cool it. This requires the pipes, of course a heat pump and some duct work.

In another application, warm water that pools close to the Earth's surface can be pumped into buildings and used for heating purposes. Additionally, wells can be drilled into hard rock and the resulting heat or steam can be used to generate power.

One of the good things about geothermal energy is that it has very little effect on environmental surroundings. Scientists believe that it is sustainable and renewable because the Earth is continually heating. Geothermal power plants have very low emissions and geothermal heat pumps are incredibly energy-efficient.

However there are some disadvantages to geothermal power. The fluid itself is quite corrosive and, compared to a steam boiler, is really a reduced temperature so it can be used efficiently and quickly. Also geothermal water can contain arsenic, mercury along with other toxic chemicals in minute traces so making sure that the water is not disposed of in our rivers and streams is a must.

There are geothermal sites and power plants today, in fact California has 33 areas that use geothermal energy and also the geysers dry dream reservoir has been producing electricity since 1960. However, there are several concerns these geothermal areas can cool off because of overuse since there is only a lot energy that could be stored in any one area of the earth. This brings up the question of whether geothermal energy is really renewable or not and whether we ought to put lots of resources into researching it's use.




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