Geothermal Energy
Geothermal energy is basically the heat from the Earth that is used for anything from powering buildings to heating homes. It is a clean and sustainable form of alternative energy because the Earth is constantly creating heat at massive amounts that otherwise would go unused. There are many ways of accessing geothermal energy such as hot water springs found on the Earth’s surface, hot water reservoirs and hot rock found miles below the Earth’s crust as well as the extremely high temperatures of magma found much deeper into the Earth’s core.
Nearly every point on the Earth’s surface or no more than 10 feet below it hover’s between 50° and 60°F (10° and 16°C) and this can be tapped through geothermal heat pumps as a resource to both heat and cool buildings effectively. The concept of a geothermal heat pump is basically a heat pump with a system of ductwork from the ground into a building/power plant where a heat exchanger system works to remove the heat during summer and leave the warmth during the winter.
The United States has a great number of geothermal hot water reservoirs found in western states, Hawaii and Alaska that can be used effectively to both heat and power the country through the generation of electricity. Often power plants will use the steam from geothermal energy to either power a turbine/generator or turn the hot water found in reservoirs into steam to then power the turbine/generator.
Currently geothermal energy is used only about 15% in the world with larger countries like the US, China and India utilizing a fair portion of that percentage. The Earth creates about 7,000 times the amount of heat needed to power our world, but at the moment that clean and sustainable power supply is overlooked for more the cheaper and readily accessible energy option fossil fuel. Alternative energy like geothermal energy is an important avenue that we need to put more effort into using now because as fossil fuels begin to run dry and our environment continues to suffer, the need for alternative ways of powering and heating our world with be a necessity very quickly if we aren’t paying attention. With the readily available access to geothermal energy it is nearly unthinkable that such as powerful and sustainable power source is going unused while we while away the years focusing on fossil fuels that will soon run out.
Nearly every point on the Earth’s surface or no more than 10 feet below it hover’s between 50° and 60°F (10° and 16°C) and this can be tapped through geothermal heat pumps as a resource to both heat and cool buildings effectively. The concept of a geothermal heat pump is basically a heat pump with a system of ductwork from the ground into a building/power plant where a heat exchanger system works to remove the heat during summer and leave the warmth during the winter.
The United States has a great number of geothermal hot water reservoirs found in western states, Hawaii and Alaska that can be used effectively to both heat and power the country through the generation of electricity. Often power plants will use the steam from geothermal energy to either power a turbine/generator or turn the hot water found in reservoirs into steam to then power the turbine/generator.
Currently geothermal energy is used only about 15% in the world with larger countries like the US, China and India utilizing a fair portion of that percentage. The Earth creates about 7,000 times the amount of heat needed to power our world, but at the moment that clean and sustainable power supply is overlooked for more the cheaper and readily accessible energy option fossil fuel. Alternative energy like geothermal energy is an important avenue that we need to put more effort into using now because as fossil fuels begin to run dry and our environment continues to suffer, the need for alternative ways of powering and heating our world with be a necessity very quickly if we aren’t paying attention. With the readily available access to geothermal energy it is nearly unthinkable that such as powerful and sustainable power source is going unused while we while away the years focusing on fossil fuels that will soon run out.
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