Geothermal energy is created through power plants similar to the ones that burn coal. However, the heat that turns the water into steam to spin the turbines is derived from the magma in the earth’s mantle, and indirectly from the earth’s core. This is a pretty much renewable, emission free source of energy.
The more common way of harnessing the heat from the earth’s mantle is with Flash steam power plants. This is when plants drill down to natural reservoirs, pump cool water down, and pump the hot water up. The water that’s pumped up is way hotter than the boiling point of water (212°F). With Flash steam power plants, the water needs to be between 350° and 700°. When this water is given room to expand, it turns immediately into steam and spins a turbine.
Another type of power plant is the Dry steam. This power plant just pumps water down and, and steam up. This is the oldest and simplest design. Water for this design must be above 300°.
The last and latest design is the binary power plant. This can take water that is as low as 135°. When the water is pumped up, it goes through a heat exchanger, which transfers heat from the water to another substance with a lower boiling point, like butane. The second substance is then used to spin the turbine.
Some of the pros to geothermal energy is that it is pretty much completely reliable, completely renewable, is a steady source of energy, and doesn’t release a much smaller amount of harmful emissions than burning fossil fuels (only water vapor and a little CO2 and a very small bit of NOx). Some of the cons are that you can only use geothermal energy in areas where magma is closer to the earth’s crust, which means that certain places, for example the East coast of the US, don’t have very easy access to geothermal energy. Also, goethermal drilling may have caused earthquakes, although it hasn’t been proven. 1. Just a few feet underground, the water and soil stays at a temperature between 120° and 140° yearround, so if this gets tapped into, it can help heat offices or homes. 2. Reykjavik, Iceland, which heats 95 percent of its buildings using geothermal energy, is considered one of the cleanest cities in the world. http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/energy/geothermal-energy1.htm 3. The most active geothermal resources are usually found along major plate boundaries where earthquakes and volcanoes are concentrated. Most of the geothermal activity in the world occurs in an area called the Ring of Fire. This area encircles the Pacific Ocean. 4. California had 36 geothermal power plants, which produced about 80% of U.S. geothermal electricity.
Nevada had 21 geothermal power plants, which produced about 16% of U.S. geothermal electricity.
Utah had two plants, and Hawaii, Idaho, and Oregon each had one geothermal plant. 5. Twenty four countries including the United States had geothermal power plants in 2010, which generated a total of about 63.9 billion kWh. http://www.eia.gov/kids/energy.cfm?page=geothermal_home-basics-k.cfm A. I think we should expand on the use of geothermal energy, because it would create jobs and provide clean and renewable energy for many people. B. There isn’t very much pollution associated with geothermal plants, so the builders of the plant would probably be responsible for making sure not to pollute during the construction, and after, the planet could pretty much handle any emissions released. C. It would probably be best and easiest to educate people online, either through websites or by sending people emails about geothermal plants and how they would help their towns. D. The average person can help by being aware of the benefits and drawbacks to geothermal plants, and voting for them if one is proposed to their town.