We have the technology to do a lot of things and one of these is to tap the earth’s energy. This is exactly what we do when we decide to use geothermal which happens to be a
green energy source
.
Geothermal energy
is energy obtained by tapping heat from the earth itself. This comes from magma and the radioactive decay of uranium, thorium, and potassium.
The downside to geothermal energy
is the fact that it is expensive to build. On the other hand, because the earth's crust continuously decays replenishing the heat, it is still a renewable source of energy.
There are three types of geothermal plants around. These are namely dry steam, flash, and binary.
Dry Steam Plant
Dry steam plants take steam out of fractures in the ground and use it to directly drive a turbine that spins a generator.
Flash Plant
Flash plants take on water at temperatures over 200 °C, out of the ground, and allows it to boil as it rises to the surface then separates the steam phase in steam/water separators which runs the steam through a turbine to generate electricity.
Binary Plant
Last, you have binary plants. Here, hot water flows through heat exchangers and that boiling organic fluid is what spins the turbine.
Once power is generated, the condensed steam and remaining geothermal
fluid from all three types of plants are injected back into the hot rock to pick up more heat.
Geothermal
plants are used operational in different parts of the globe. These are usually located in geologically unstable parts of the planet. You can see some in Chile, Iceland, New Zealand, United States, the Philippines and Italy. At home, two most prominent areas for this are in the Yellowstone basin and in northern California.
Aside from digging deep into the earth, there are some who believe we can generate power from hot dry rocks. You have to dig 3 kilometers deep into the earth first to find these hot underground radiogenic granite rocks
. Right now, some Australia companies are exploring this technology.
If you were to compare the amount of energy collected from geothermal
to solar
, you still get more from the sun. Despite that, people should still use it since solar energy
cannot be harnessed when the clouds block the sun’s rays from reaching the
solar panels
.
Geothermal energy is a green energy source
just like wind, hydropower
and biofuel
because it is a renewable energy. By maximizing its potential, we don’t have to worry about the price of oil in the world market when it hit more than $110 a barrel.
But that is not the only thing we should be concerned about. We should also do our best to protect the environment given that coal fired and nuclear power plants produce harmful gases and radioactive waste that may cause harm to people and the surrounding areas.
Everyone knows that our planet has changed due to global warming
. We learned our lessons from Chernobyl
and Three Mile Island
but this does not mean it may not happen again.
For us to do our share to protect the environment now and for generations to come, we have to promote alternative energy
and geothermal as a green energy source is just one of many that is currently available.
In the process of researching this going green site, I ran across an article that said ' if every person in the US would buy one LED light
, we could shut down 40 power plants. That sound like a little BS, but a 3W bulb (about six bucks) replaces a 40W bulb. And there is a lot of people here now, and more every day. It would be worth it, to see.
green energy source
.Geothermal energy
is energy obtained by tapping heat from the earth itself. This comes from magma and the radioactive decay of uranium, thorium, and potassium.The downside to geothermal energy
is the fact that it is expensive to build. On the other hand, because the earth's crust continuously decays replenishing the heat, it is still a renewable source of energy.The Types of Geothermal Plants
There are three types of geothermal plants around. These are namely dry steam, flash, and binary.
Dry Steam Plant
Dry steam plants take steam out of fractures in the ground and use it to directly drive a turbine that spins a generator.
Flash Plant
Flash plants take on water at temperatures over 200 °C, out of the ground, and allows it to boil as it rises to the surface then separates the steam phase in steam/water separators which runs the steam through a turbine to generate electricity.
Binary Plant
Last, you have binary plants. Here, hot water flows through heat exchangers and that boiling organic fluid is what spins the turbine.
Once power is generated, the condensed steam and remaining geothermal
fluid from all three types of plants are injected back into the hot rock to pick up more heat.Geothermal
plants are used operational in different parts of the globe. These are usually located in geologically unstable parts of the planet. You can see some in Chile, Iceland, New Zealand, United States, the Philippines and Italy. At home, two most prominent areas for this are in the Yellowstone basin and in northern California.Aside from digging deep into the earth, there are some who believe we can generate power from hot dry rocks. You have to dig 3 kilometers deep into the earth first to find these hot underground radiogenic granite rocks
. Right now, some Australia companies are exploring this technology.If you were to compare the amount of energy collected from geothermal
to solar, you still get more from the sun. Despite that, people should still use it since solar energy cannot be harnessed when the clouds block the sun’s rays from reaching the solar panels
.Things We Need to Do
Geothermal energy is a green energy source
just like wind, hydropower and biofuel because it is a renewable energy. By maximizing its potential, we don’t have to worry about the price of oil in the world market when it hit more than $110 a barrel.But that is not the only thing we should be concerned about. We should also do our best to protect the environment given that coal fired and nuclear power plants produce harmful gases and radioactive waste that may cause harm to people and the surrounding areas.
Everyone knows that our planet has changed due to global warming
. We learned our lessons from Chernobyl and Three Mile Island but this does not mean it may not happen again.For us to do our share to protect the environment now and for generations to come, we have to promote alternative energy
and geothermal as a green energy source is just one of many that is currently available.In the process of researching this going green site, I ran across an article that said ' if every person in the US would buy one LED light
, we could shut down 40 power plants. That sound like a little BS, but a 3W bulb (about six bucks) replaces a 40W bulb. And there is a lot of people here now, and more every day. It would be worth it, to see.Energy 101: Geothermal Energy (department of energy)
Published on Jul 30, 2014
See how we can generate clean, renewable energy from hot water sources deep beneath the Earth's surface. The video highlights the basic principles at work in geothermal energy production, and illustrates three different ways the Earth's heat can be converted into electricity.
Thank you for reading my post “Geothermal as a Green Energy Source”. Since you are here, sit down and relax. Take your shoes off. Make yourself at home and have a look around. Stay as long as you want and come back as often as you can.
Thanks again and Y’all come back now.
Keep Smiling
reuben
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