Geothermal Energy

_geothermal_energy.pdf

A Brief History of Geothermal Energy Use Used by most if not all early civilizations for cooking, bathing, and heating. First used for electric power in Lardello, Italy in 1913 Did not spread to the rest of the world until 1932 All pumps before 1960 were of the basic dry steam design

Global Climate Change: Why We Should Fear It Rising CO 2 levels contribute to a change in global climates Non-renewable energy sources such as fossil fuels and coal result in a large amount of CO 2 waste products Global Climate Change has been predicted to result in a number of issues such as flooding of costal areas, higher allergen production, a grater risk of food poisoning, a grater risk of water-borne infection (particularly Cholera in costal/estuarine areas), grater risk of vector borne infection, reduction in crop yields, decline in local fisheries, population displacement and salinisation of freshwater and/or costal soil

Geothermal Energy: An Overview Energy results from the heat deep benith the Earth’s surface Higher temperature areas can be used to generate energy Lower temperature areas can be put to “direct use” Geothermal Energy can be harnessed almost anywhere in the world through the use of geothermal heat pumps

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Initially all plants were dry steam plants In 1960, a flash steam plant was constructed in New Zealand Currently, the most effective model is the binary method

Dry Steam

Flash Steam

Binary

Other innovations in Geothermal Technology Can substitute normal water in plant with recycled wastewater First attempted at a geothermal energy plant in California known as “The Geysers”

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Works Consulted Barbier, Enrico. “Geothermal energy technology and current status: an overview.” Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews (2002): ScienceDirect. Web. 22 Feb Brown, Lester. Plan B 3.0 Mobalizing to Save Civilization. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., PDF file. Caldeira, Ken, Atul Jain, and Martin Hoffert. “Climate Sensitivity Uncertainty and the Need for Energy Without CO2 Emission.” Science 299 (Mar. 2003): AAAS. Web. 22 Feb Fridleifsson, Ingvar. “Geothermal energy for the benefit of the people.” Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 5.3 (200): ScienceDirect. Web. 22 Feb The Future of Geothermal Energy: The Future of Impact of Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) on the United States in the 21st Century. MIT.edu. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, n.d. Web. 22 Feb “Geothermal Energy Facts.” Geothermal Education Office. N.p., 13 Jan Web. 22 Feb “Geothermal Heat Pumps.” US Department of Energy: Energy Efficency and Renewable Energy. US Department of Energy, 7 July Web. 22 Feb Lund, John. “CHARACTERISTICS, DEVELOPMENT AND UTILIZATION OF GEOTHERMAL RESOURCES.” GHC BULLETIN (June 2007): n. pag. Web. 22 Feb “The USA geothermal country update.” Geothermics (2003): Web. 22 Feb Lund, John, and Derek Freeston. “World-wide direct uses of geothermal energy 2000.” Geothermics 30.1 (2001): ScienceDirect. Web. 22 Feb McMichael, Anthony, Rosalie Woodruff, and Simon Hales. “Climate change and human health: present and future risks.” The Lancet (2006): ScienceDirect. Web. 22 Feb