Where is geothermal energy found?
• Geothermal sources are near tectonic plate boundaries. The most active geothermal resources are usually found along major plate boundaries where earthquakes and volcanoes occur.
• Most geothermal activity in the world occurs in an area called the Ring of Fire, which encircles the Pacific Ocean. U.S geothermal power plants are located in the west.
• Naturally occuring large areas of hydrothermal resouces are called geothermal reservoirs. Most are deep underground with no visible clues showing above ground.
• Most geothermal activity in the world occurs in an area called the Ring of Fire, which encircles the Pacific Ocean. U.S geothermal power plants are located in the west.
• Naturally occuring large areas of hydrothermal resouces are called geothermal reservoirs. Most are deep underground with no visible clues showing above ground.
Types of Geothermal Plants
These are the 3 main types of power plants used to retrieve geothermal energy:
• Dry Steam powerplants use steam that was piped directly from a geothermal reservoir turn the generator turbines.
• Flash Steam powerplants take high pressure water from deep inside the Earth and convert it to steam to run the generater turbines. When the steam cools down and condenses back to water, the water returns back to the reservoirs. Flash Steam powerplants are the most commonly used powerplants in geothermal energy.
• Binary Cycle transfers geothermal hot water to another liquid, the heat causes the second liquid to turn to steam to run the turbine generators.
Below are diagrams of how geothermal power plants work. To see how it works, click on the image to see it.
• Dry Steam powerplants use steam that was piped directly from a geothermal reservoir turn the generator turbines.
• Flash Steam powerplants take high pressure water from deep inside the Earth and convert it to steam to run the generater turbines. When the steam cools down and condenses back to water, the water returns back to the reservoirs. Flash Steam powerplants are the most commonly used powerplants in geothermal energy.
• Binary Cycle transfers geothermal hot water to another liquid, the heat causes the second liquid to turn to steam to run the turbine generators.
Below are diagrams of how geothermal power plants work. To see how it works, click on the image to see it.
What are the benefits of Geothermal Energy?
The advantages of using geothermal energy are:
• Using geothermal heat to power a power station is, unlike most power stations, a geothermal system does not create pollution. It releases less than 1% of carbon dioxide.
• The cost of the land to build a geothermal powerplant on, it is usually less expensive than if you were planning to construct an; oil, gas, coal, or nuclear power plant. The main reason for this is land space, as geothermal plants take up very little room, so you don't need to buy a larger area of land.
• No fuel is used to generate the power, which in return, means that the running costs for the plants are very low, as there are no costs for purchasing, transporting, or cleaning up of fuels you may consider buying to generate the power.
• Geothermal features in national parks, such as geysers and fumaroles in Yellowstone National Park, are protected by law, to prevent them from being disturbed.
• The best advantage of using geothermal energy is you only need to provide power to the water pumps, which can be generated by the powerplant itself!
• Using geothermal heat to power a power station is, unlike most power stations, a geothermal system does not create pollution. It releases less than 1% of carbon dioxide.
• The cost of the land to build a geothermal powerplant on, it is usually less expensive than if you were planning to construct an; oil, gas, coal, or nuclear power plant. The main reason for this is land space, as geothermal plants take up very little room, so you don't need to buy a larger area of land.
• No fuel is used to generate the power, which in return, means that the running costs for the plants are very low, as there are no costs for purchasing, transporting, or cleaning up of fuels you may consider buying to generate the power.
• Geothermal features in national parks, such as geysers and fumaroles in Yellowstone National Park, are protected by law, to prevent them from being disturbed.
• The best advantage of using geothermal energy is you only need to provide power to the water pumps, which can be generated by the powerplant itself!
But there are also disadvantages of geothermal energy;
• There is a low number of suitable locations for a powerplant, hence, in the U.S, it is only in the western states.
• Sometimes the locations may temporarily run out of steam which could last for months, so during this time, the powerplant wouldn't have enough energy to generate electricity.
• Geothermal energy isn't easily transported, it could only be used to to generate electricity of the surrounding areas.
• When retrieving geothermal energy, it has some hazardous materials. Gases and minerals come up along with the steam-- one of the common ones are hydrogen sulfide which is difficult to dispose safely of and more; arsenic, mercury, and ammonia. Also, when digging for geothermal, it can cause earthquakes up to a magnitude of 4.