Geothermal energy

Heat from the earth can be used as an energy source in many ways, from large and complex power stations to small and relatively simple pumping systems. This heat energy, known as geothermal energy, can be found almost anywhere—as far away as remote deep wells in Indonesia and as close as the dirt in our backyards. Many regions of the world are already tapping geothermal energy as an affordable and sustainable solution to reducing dependence on fossil fuels, and the With more than 3,300 megawatts in eight states, the United States is a global leader in installed geothermal capacity. Eighty percent of this capacity is located in California, where more than 40 geothermal plants provide nearly 7 percent of the state’s electricity [ The geothermal resource Below Earth's crust, there is a layer of hot and molten rock, called magma. Heat is continually produced in this layer, mostly from the decay of naturally radioactive materials such as uranium and potassium. The amount of heat within 10,000 meters (about 33,000 feet) of Earth's surface contains 50,000 times more energy than all the oil and natural gas resources in the world. The areas with the highest underground temperatures are in regions with active or geologically young volcanoes. These "hot spots" occur at tectonic plate boundaries or at places where the crust is thin enough to let the heat through. The Pacific Rim, often called the Ring of Fire for its many volcanoes, has many hot spots, including some in Alaska, Califo...

There’s an abandoned coal power plant in upstate New York that most people regard as a useless relic. But MIT’s Paul Woskov sees things differently. Woskov, a research engineer in MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center, notes the plant’s power turbine is still intact and the transmission lines still run to the grid. Using an approach he’s been working on for the last 14 years, he’s hoping it will be back online, completely carbon-free, within the decade. In fact, Quaise Energy, the company commercializing Woskov’s work, believes if it can retrofit one power plant, the same process will work on virtually every coal and gas power plant in the world. Quaise is hoping to accomplish those lofty goals by tapping into the energy source below our feet. The company plans to vaporize enough rock to create the world’s deepest holes and harvest geothermal energy at a scale that could satisfy human energy consumption for millions of years. They haven’t yet solved all the related engineering challenges, but Quaise’s founders have set an ambitious timeline to begin harvesting energy from a pilot well by 2026. The plan would be easier to dismiss as unrealistic if it were based on a new and unproven technology. But Quaise’s drilling systems center around a microwave-emitting device called a gyrotron that has been used in research and manufacturing for decades. “This will happen quickly once we solve the immediate engineering problems of transmitting a clean beam and having it operate at a ...

Geothermal ce. Such uses of geothermal energy were initially limited to sites where hot Although the world’s first district heating system was installed at Chaudes-Aigues, The first geothermal By 2015 more than 80 countries were using geothermal energy, either directly or in Geothermal energy was used to produce electricity in 24 countries in the early 21st century, the leaders being the United States, the Extraction Observe how researchers drill for geothermal water in the frozen ground of Iceland The heated fluid from a geothermal resource is tapped by drilling wells, sometimes as deep as 9,100 metres (about 30,000 feet), and is extracted by pumping or by natural artesian flow (where the weight of the water forces it to the surface). Water and steam are then piped to the power plant to generate electricity or through insulated pipelines—which may be buried or placed aboveground—for use in heating and cooling applications. In general, electric power plant pipelines are limited to roughly 1.6 km (1 mile) in length to minimize heat loss in the steam. However, direct-use pipelines spanning several tens of kilometres have been installed with a Exhaustion Geothermal resources can be exhausted if the rate of heat extraction exceeds the rate of natural heat recharge. Normally, geothermal resources can be used for 20 to 30 years; however, the energy output may decrease with time, making continued development uneconomical. On the other hand, geothermal electric power has been prod...

Installed geothermal power generating capacity since 2000 (MW) By state [ ] Installed geothermal capacity in megawatts (MW) by state as of February 2012: State Capacity (MW) Share of U.S total California 2,732.2 71.9% Nevada 517.5 15.3% Utah 48.1 1.4% Hawaii 38.0 1.1% Oregon 33.3 1.0% Idaho 15.8 0.5% New Mexico 4.0 0.1% Alaska 0.7 <0.1% Wyoming 0.3 <0.1% Total 3,389.9 100% Geysers [ ] The Geysers has 1517 Salton Sea [ ] Another major geothermal area is located in south central Basin and Range [ ] The Reliability [ ] Unlike power sources such as wind and solar, geothermal energy is [ dead link] National Geothermal Data System [ ] The US operates the Cost [ ] The initial cost for the field and power plant is around $2500 per installed kW in the U.S., probably $3000 to $5000/kWe for a small (<1Mwe) power plant. Operating and maintenance costs range from $0.01 to $0.03 per kWh. Environmental effects [ ] The underground hot water and steam used to generate geothermal power may contain chemical pollutants, such as hydrogen sulfide ( H 2S). H 2S is toxic in high concentrations, and is sometimes found in geothermal systems. The water mixed with the steam contains dissolved salts that can damage pipes and harm aquatic ecosystems. Injection of water in enhanced geothermal systems may "Possible effects include scenery spoliation, drying out of hot springs, soil erosion, See also [ ] • • • • • • • • • • • • • • References [ ] • ^ a b c (PDF). www.geo-energy.org. Archived from (PDF) on...