Geothermal energy is heat derived within the sub-surface of the earth. Depending on its characteristics, geothermal energy can be used for heating and cooling purposes or be harnessed to generate clean electricity. However, for electricity, generation high or medium temperature resources are needed, which are usually located close to tectonically active regions.
The main advantages are that it is not depending on weather conditions and has very high capacity factors; for these reasons, geothermal power plants are capable of supplying baseload electricity, as well as providing ancillary services for short and long-term flexibility in some cases. There are different geothermal technologies with distinct levels of maturity.
Technologies for direct uses like district heating, geothermal heat pumps, greenhouses, and for other applications are widely used and can be considered mature. Read This Next Wild parakeets have taken a liking to London.
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Meet the people trying to help. Animals Whales eat three times more than previously thought. Environment Planet Possible India bets its energy future on solar—in ways both small and big. The United States opened its first geothermal district heating system in in Boise, Idaho. This system still provides heat to about homes. Co-Produced Geothermal Energy Co-produced geothermal energy technology relies on other energy sources.
This form of geothermal energy uses water that has been heated as a byproduct in oil and gas wells. In the United States, about 25 billion barrels of hot water are produced every year as a byproduct.
In the past, this hot water was simply discarded. Recently, it has been recognized as a potential source of even more energy: Its steam can be used to generate electricity to be used immediately or sold to the grid. One of the first co-produced geothermal energy projects was initiated at the Rocky Mountain Oilfield Testing Center in the U. Newer technology has allowed co-produced geothermal energy facilities to be portable. Although still in experimental stages, mobile power plants hold tremendous potential for isolated or impoverished communities.
GHPs are drilled about 3 to 90 meters 10 to feet deep, much shallower than most oil and natural gas wells. GHPs do not require fracturing bedrock to reach their energy source.
A pipe connected to a GHP is arranged in a continuous loop—called a "slinky loop"—that circles underground and above ground, usually throughout a building. The loop can also be contained entirely underground, to heat a parking lot or landscaped area. During the cold season, the liquid absorbs underground geothermal heat. It carries the heat upward through the building and gives off warmth through a duct system. These heated pipes can also run through hot water tanks and offset water-heating costs.
During the summer, the GHP system works the opposite way: The liquid in the pipes is warmed from the heat in the building or parking lot, and carries the heat to be cooled underground. The U. Environmental Protection Agency has called geothermal heating the most energy-efficient and environmentally safe heating and cooling system. Harvesting Geothermal Energy: Electricity In order to obtain enough energy to generate electricity, geothermal power plants rely on heat that exists a few kilometers below the surface of the Earth.
In some areas, the heat can naturally exist underground as pockets steam or hot water. Dry-Steam Power Plants Dry-steam power plants take advantage of natural underground sources of steam. The steam is piped directly to a power plant, where it is used to fuel turbines and generate electricity. Dry steam is the oldest type of power plant to generate electricity using geothermal energy. The first dry-steam power plant was constructed in Larderello, Italy, in Today, the dry-steam power plants at Larderello continue to supply electricity to more than a million residents of the area.
Since Yellowstone is a protected area, The Geysers is the only place where a dry-steam power plant is in use. It is one of the largest geothermal energy complexes in the world, and provides about a fifth of all renewable energy in California.
Flash-steam power plants use naturally occurring sources of underground hot water and steam. Any remaining water can be flashed in a separate tank to extract more energy. Flash-steam power plants are the most common type of geothermal power plants. The volcanically active island nation of Iceland supplies nearly all its electrical needs through a series of flash-steam geothermal power plants. The steam and excess warm water produced by the flash-steam process heat icy sidewalks and parking lots in the frigid Arctic winter.
The islands of the Philippines also sit over a tectonically active area, the " Ring of Fire " that rims the Pacific Ocean. Government and industry in the Philippines have invested in flash-steam power plants, and today the nation is second only to the United States in its use of geothermal energy. In fact, the largest single geothermal power plant is a flash-steam facility in Malitbog, Philippines.
Binary Cycle Power Plants Binary cycle power plants use a unique process to conserve water and generate heat. The hot water is contained in a pipe, which cycles above ground. The hot water heats a liquid organic compound that has a lower boiling point than water. The organic liquid creates steam, which flows through a turbine and powers a generator to create electricity. The only emission in this process is steam.
The water in the pipe is recycled back to the ground, to be re-heated by the Earth and provide heat for the organic compound again. The Beowawe Geothermal Facility in the U. The organic compound used at the facility is an industrial refrigerant tetrafluoroethane, a greenhouse gas. This refrigerant has a much lower boiling point than water, meaning it is converted into gas at low temperatures.
The gas fuels the turbines, which are connected to electrical generators. Enhanced Geothermal Systems The Earth has virtually endless amounts of energy and heat beneath its surface. However, it is not possible to use it as energy unless the underground areas are "hydrothermal. Many areas do not have all three of these components.
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