Geothermal Energy

Geothermal energy is energy from heat inside the earth.  What does this mean?  How can we get energy from this?  Well, the Earth's core is extremely hot.  This heat is radiated through the magma and rock of the inner Earth.  The heat is used in many different ways.  One way is through a direct heating system.  In this system, hot water is pumped directly from within the Earth to buildings for use.  Electricity can also be produced using geothermal energy.  To produce electricity a geothermal plant is used.  There are three kinds of geothermal plants: dry steam plants, flash steam plants, and binary cycle power plants.  In a dry steam geothermal plant, steam is pumped straight from the Earth and used to turn the generators turbines.  This steam is produced from a geothermal reservoir in the Earth.  After it turns the turbines, the natural steam from this reservoir is condensed into cool water and pumped back underground into the reservoir so the process can continue.

The second type of geothermal electricity production is the flash steam method.  This is very similar to the dry steam method.  Instead of pumping steam directly from the Earth, hot water is pumped up.  This hot water is converted to steam to turn the turbines of a generator.  The cooled water is then pumped back into the reservoir just as in the dry steam plant.

The third type of geothermal power plant is the binary cycle power plant.  This method is a little different than the other two.  Instead of directly getting steam from a geothermal reservoir, hot water is pumped up and used to heat another liquid through a heat exchanger.  This liquid vaporizes and the vapor used to power the generator.  

Like any other renewable energy source, there are many benefits to using geothermal energy.  The use of  geothermal energy conserves fossil fuels, it is renewable, it produces green energy in a safe manner, and uses little land.  The United States is one of the biggest users of Geothermal energy and has even more potential for geothermal energy production. (see below graphic)