Geothermal energy is energy that comes from inside the Earth.
The Earth is made up of crusts and underneath the crust is magma, which is actually hotter than the Sun. (Darn it! My dreams of digging to the other side of the Earth have been burned.)
While the Earth’s outer surface provides, in general, habitable conditions, the inner core of the earth is extremely hot (approximately 9,806 degrees Farenheit). The temperature is estimated based upon the behavior of the seismic waves passing through the inner core.
There are three components that contribute to the extreme temperature inside the earth: 1) Heat from the formation process of the Earth. 2) The heat from friction between the denser core and the center of the earth. 3) Radioactive elements’ decay.
There is more energy six miles beneath the Earth’s crust than there is natural gas and oil energy. Geothermal energy is a renewable resource, meaning the energy made from it is greater than the energy being used.
The production of geothermal energy is especially popular in Iceland. Geothermal energy makes up more than 50% of Iceland’s primary energy. Geothermal plants make up more than 25% of the electricity produced in Iceland. In fact, most of the buildings and even the swimming pools are heated by geothermal energy there.
There are a few ways geothermal energy captures energy. Usually, geothermal springs are used to capture the energy. There is a well a few miles deep that can capture the energy. The water’s steam can turn a turbine, and the generator then produces electricity. This is a design in which the water is used directly. If the water has a high enough temperature, the water goes through a heat exchanger. This is (surprise, surprise) called the heat exchanger design.
The Geysers, which is north of San Francisco, is the largest geothermal system except it doesn’t actually have any geysers. And the heat is for steam, not hot water. By 1990, 26 power plants had been built there.
Most of the energy within the Earth does not get tapped and so gets wasted in a sense. If we are able to safely get the energy (from deep into the earth), refine and distribute it, it will potentially solve the energy crisis of the world. This extracting procedure can be customized for different parts of the Earth (based upon the specific condition) for optimization. This exploration can help us understand the seismic patterns and control/prevent earthquakes.
Advantages of using geothermal energy include it doesn’t involve burning fossil fuels, it produces one-sixth of the carbon dioxide that power plants, like natural gas, produce, it is always reliable, unlike solar and wind energy and it isn’t expensive.
Two disadvantages of using geothermal energy are that it produces hydrogen sulfide (which has a rotten-egg smell in low concentration) and getting rid of geothermal fluids is a concern because sometimes it has a small toxic level.
Hopefully, the future will have a lot more geothermal energy systems. It is pollution-free, a renewable resource and consistently reliable.
Vaageesha Das is a sophomore at Morgantown High School. Today’s information comes from: Geothermal Energy Information and Facts. (2019, June 17). Retrieved from https://www.nationalgeographic.c
om/environment/global-warming/geothermal-energy/#close ; How Geothermal Energy Works. (2014, December 22). Retrieved from https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/how-geothermal-energy-works ; [Green Mountain Energy]. (2017, October 3). Renewable Energy 101: How Does Geothermal Energy Work? [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7q653ffQO4
