Geothermal



toc = **Geothermal Energy** = The word Geothermal can be divided into two roots- geo, meaning Earth, and Thermal, meaning heart. This is what geothermal energy is- energy gotten from the internal heat of the Earth. In areas that have molten rock close to the Earth's crust humans can utilize this heat to produce energy.

= The Science Behind It = The process starts by having water heated by the internal heat of the Earth to produce steam. We then drill holes into the Earth's surface and let the steam come up. The steam is then used to drive turbines which are used to power electric drivers.This picture illustrates the process: = = = Disadvantages = One disadvantage to Geothermal energy is the fact that before a geothermal plant can be built the land must be surveyed. This surveying can take years and it can be hard to find a spot that can support a geothermal plant. These plants are built on areas where their are cracks in the Earth's crust so that we can use the Earth's heat. Because of this most of the area's that can support a geothermal plant are near volcanoes or fault lines. Another disadvantage is cost. Building geothermal plants can be very expensive and there are few investors who are interested in Geothermal energy. There are also numerous regulations on drilling for geothermal energy. This along with limited locations make it very hard for new Geothermal plants to be made.

=** Advantages **= One very important advantage to Geothermal is the fact that it needs no fuel to produce energy. While electricity and fossil fuels will continue to increase in cost, Geothermal energy will stay at a constant price due to this. Even now, geothermal power is now less expensive than coal. Additionally, Geothermal is also Earth friendly and produces no harmful by-products. Geothermal is also a reliable and constant energy source, unlike wind and solar power which can waver and vary. In addition, Geothermal power plants are shown to have less aesthetic problems when compared to other power plants. Also, since drilling technology is constantly improving, Geothermal power is quickly becoming accessible to locations all over the world. Soon, Geothermal power plants will be universally available.

While it may not be the cheapest way to produce energy–it’s actually quite expensive–Geothermal energy can be a very smart investment and worthwhile investment.

= **Building Expenses** = The cost of building a Geothermal Plant is generally expensive. The average cost of building a plant is $10.5 million. Smaller ones generally run for $2.3 million while the larger run for $50 million. Additionally, plants that are extremely small in size can be built for $5000. There are many factors that influence the cost of a geothermal plant including the following: size of plant, technology used, temperature of resource, environmental polices, and the rights to 2,000 (or more) acres to build to plant.

= **Operating Expenses** = Most of the cost of the power plant is upfront which means it costs a lot of money to build. Fortunately, it’s not nearly as expensive to run a geothermal plant compared to building it. No fuel is required to run the power plant so it cost a mere $0.03 per kWh (kilowatt-hour) for operations and maintenance.

=** Geographic Features **= Geothermal power plants have to be near volcanoes or fault lines in order for them to work. Otherwise, there would not be enough heat to produce energy.

= **Impact on Health** = Geothermal power is a very clean source of energy and is not hazardous to the health of the community or the health of the environment. Geothermal power does not use any fossil fuels or flammable materials that could possibly harm people or the environment. This means that there are also no harmful emissions or pollution that could cause health problems over time. When building the geothermal energy plant, there is an opportunity for some pollution that is caused by building, but the plant does not let off any pollution during operation.

= **Jobs Created** = Geothermal power is also beneficial to communities in the area due to the plant's need for jobs. There are a thousand jobs created by a single geothermal energy project. Jobs created are usually the same types of jobs created for natural gas drilling, so if geothermal power were to become used widely many people would be able to find jobs there. Some examples of these jobs are welding, mechanic, pipe fitters, plumbers, machinists, etc.

= **Space Required** = Geothermal power also does not use up a lot of space. The US department of energy states that the average geothermal power plant should require only four hundred square meters of land. This is approximately the same as one-tenth of an acre. The power plants also do not take up space for storage because it is not required.

= **Sources** = http://www.geothermalengineering.co.uk/page/environmental-benefits.html http://www.experts123.com/q/do-geothermal-power-plants-have-special-space-or-equipment-requirements.html http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090329200344AAqIWtM http://scottscontracting.wordpress.com/2010/11/17/2011-outlook-for-clean-energy-jobs/ http://www.geo-energy.org/geo_basics_benefits.aspx http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=can-geothermal-power-compete-with-coal-on-price

= Geothermal Pictures =