Geothermal

What is geothermal energy?

The word geothermal comes from the Greek words geo (earth) and therme (heat). Geothermal energy is heat within the earth. People can use this heat as steam or as hot water to heat buildings or to generate electricity. Geothermal energy is a renewable energy source because heat is continuously produced inside the earth.

Geothermal energy comes from deep inside the earth

Description: Description: Image of the earth's interior, from the outside to the inside, with the crust, the mantle of magma and rock, the outer core of magma, and the innermost core of iron.

Source: Adapted from a National Energy Education Development Project graphic (public domain)

The slow decay of radioactive particles in the earth's core, a process that happens in all rocks, produces geothermal energy. The earth's core is hotter than the sun's surface.

The earth has a number of different layers:

·         The inner core is solid iron and is surrounded by an outer core of hot molten rock called magma.

·         The mantle surrounds the core and is about 1,800 miles thick. The mantle is made up of magma and rock.

·         The crust is the outermost layer of the earth. The crust forms the continents and ocean floors. The crust can be 3 to 5 miles thick under the oceans and 15 to 35 miles thick on the continents.


The earth's crust is broken into pieces called tectonic plates. Magma comes close to the earth's surface near the edges of these plates, which is where many volcanoes occur. The lava that erupts from volcanoes is partly magma. Rocks and water absorb heat from magma deep underground. The rocks and water found deeper underground have the highest temperatures.

People around the world use geothermal energy to heat their homes and to produce electricity by drilling deep wells and pumping the hot underground water or steam to the surface. People can also use the stable temperatures near the surface of the earth to heat and cool buildings.

 

Where Geothermal Energy Is Found

Geothermal reservoirs are naturally occurring areas of hydrothermal resources. These reservoirs are deep underground and are largely undetectable above ground. Geothermal energy finds its way to the earth's surface in three ways:

·         Volcanoes and fumaroles (holes in the earth where volcanic gases are released)

·         Hot springs

·         Geysers

Most geothermal resources are near tectonic plate boundaries

The most active geothermal resources are usually found along major tectonic plate boundaries where most volcanoes are located. One of the most active geothermal areas in the world is called the Ring of Fire, which encircles the Pacific Ocean.

U.S. geothermal resource map

Source: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy

When magma comes near the earth's surface, it heats ground water trapped in porous rock or water running along fractured rock surfaces and faults. Hydrothermal features have two common ingredients, water (hydro) and heat (thermal). Geologists use various methods to find geothermal reservoirs. Drilling a well and testing the temperature deep underground is the most reliable method for locating a geothermal reservoir.

U.S. geothermal power plants are located in the West

Most of the geothermal power plants in the United States are in western states and Hawaii, where geothermal energy resources are close to the earth's surface. California generates the most electricity from geothermal energy. The Geysers dry steam reservoir in Northern California is the largest known dry steam field in the world and has been producing electricity since 1960.

Use of Geothermal Energy:

Some applications of geothermal energy use the earth's temperatures near the surface, while others require drilling miles into the earth. There are three main types of geothermal energy systems:

·         Direct use and district heating systems

·         Electricity generation power plants

·         Geothermal heat pumps

Direct use and district heating systems

Direct use and district heating systems use hot water from springs or reservoirs located near the surface of the earth. Ancient Roman, Chinese, and Native American cultures used hot mineral springs for bathing, cooking, and heating. Today, many hot springs are still used for bathing, and many people believe the hot, mineral-rich waters have natural healing powers.

Geothermal energy is also used to heat buildings through district heating systems. Hot water near the earth's surface is piped directly into buildings for heat. A district heating system provides heat for most of the buildings in Reykjavik, Iceland. Industrial applications of geothermal energy include food dehydration, gold mining, and milk pasteurizing. Dehydration, or the drying of vegetable and fruit products, is the most common industrial use of geothermal energy.

Geothermal electricity generation

The United States leads the world in the amount of electricitygenerated with geothermal energy. Geothermal electricity generation requires water or steam at high temperatures (300° to 700°F). Geothermal power plants are generally built where geothermal reservoirs are located, within a mile or two of the earth's surface. In 2017, U.S. geothermal power plants produced about 16 billion kilowatthours (kWh), or 0.4% of total U.S. utility-scale electricity generation. In 2017, seven states had geothermal power plants.

Share of U.S. geothermal electricity produced by each state in 2017:

California

73%

Nevada

21%

Utah

 3%

Hawaii

 2%

Oregon

 1%

Idaho

<1%

New Mexico

<1%

Geothermal heat pumps

Geothermal heat pumps use the constant temperatures near the surface of the earth to heat and cool buildings. Geothermal heat pumps transfer heat from the ground (or water) into buildings during the winter and reverse the process in the summer.

Geothermal energy contributes a significant share of electricity generation in several countries

In 2015, 22 countries, including the United States, generated a total of about 76 billion kWh of electricity from geothermal energy. The Philippines was the second-largest geothermal electricity producer after the United States, at about 11 billion kWh of electricity, which equaled approximately 14% of the Philippines' total electricity generation. Kenya was the seventh-largest producer of electricity from geothermal energy at about 4.5 billion kWh of electricity, but it had the largest share of its total electricity generation from geothermal energy at about 47%.

Geothermal Power Plants:

Geothermal power plants use hydrothermal resources that have both water (hydro) and heat (thermal). Geothermal power plants require high-temperature (300°F to 700°F) hydrothermal resources that come from either dry steam wells or from hot water wells. People use these resources by drilling wells into the earth and then piping steam or hot water to the surface. The hot water or steam powers a turbine that generates electricity. Some geothermal wells are as much as two miles deep.

Types of geothermal power plants

There are three basic types of geothermal power plants:

·         Dry steam plants use steam directly from a geothermal reservoir to turn generator turbines. The first geothermal power plant was built in 1904 in Tuscany, Italy, where natural steam erupted from the earth.

·         Flash steam plants take high-pressure hot water from deep inside the earth and convert it to steam to drive generator turbines. When the steam cools, it condenses to water and is injected back into the ground to be used again. Most geothermal power plants are flash steam plants.

·         Binary cycle power plants transfer the heat from geothermal hot water to another liquid. The heat causes the second liquid to turn to steam, which is used to drive a generator turbine.

The differences between dry steam, flash steam, and binary cycle power plants are shown in the diagrams below.

Description: Description: Illustration of a Dry Steam Power Plant - Geothermal steam comes up from the reservoir through a production well. The steam spins a turbine, which in turn spins a generator that creates electricity. Excess steam condenses to water, which is put back into the reservoir via an injection well. Description: Description: Illustration of a Flash Steam Power Plant - Pressurized geothermal hot water comes up from the reservoir through a production well. The water enters a flash tank where it depressurizes and flashes to steam. The steam then spins the turbine, which in turn spins a geneator that creates electricity. Excess steam condenses to water, which is put back into the reservoir via an injection well. Description: Description: Illustration of a Binary Cycle Power Plant. Geothermal hot water comes up from the reservoir through a production well. The hot water passes by a heat exchanger that is connected to a tank containing a secondary hydrocarbon fluid. The hot water heats the fluid, which turns to vapor. The vapor spins a turbine, which in turn spins a generator that creates electricity. The hot water continues back into the reservoir via an injection well. This closed-loop system produces no emissions.

Geothermal Heat Pumps:

Geothermal heat pumps use the earth's constant temperatures for heating and cooling

A type of geothermal heat pump system

Description: Description: A diagram of a closed loop geothermal heat pump system

Source: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (public domain)

Although air temperatures above ground change throughout the day and with the seasons, temperatures of the earth 10 feet below the earth's surface are consistently between 50°F and 60°F. For most areas of the United States, this means soil temperatures are usually warmer than the air in winter and cooler than the air in summer. Geothermal heat pumps use the earth's constant temperature to heat and cool buildings. Geothermal heat pumps transfer heat from the ground (or water) into buildings during the winter and reverse the process in the summer.

Geothermal heat pumps are energy efficient and cost effective

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), geothermal heat pumps are the most energy-efficient, environmentally clean, and cost-effective systems for heating and cooling buildings. All types of buildings, including homes, office buildings, schools, and hospitals, can use geothermal heat pumps.

Geothermal Energy and the Environment:

The environmental effects of geothermal energy depend on how geothermal energy is used or how it is converted to useful energy. Direct use applications and geothermal heat pumps have almost no negative effects on the environment. In fact, they can have a positive effect by reducing the use of energy sources that have more or greater negative effects on the environment.

Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Description: Description: Grand Prismatic Sprinag, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Source: Stock photography

Geothermal power plants have low emission levels

Geothermal power plants do not burn fuel to generate electricity, so the levels of air pollutants they emit are low. Geothermal power plants emit 97% less acid rain-causing sulfur compounds and about 99% less carbon dioxide than fossil fuel power plants of similar size. Geothermal power plants use scrubbers to remove the hydrogen sulfide naturally found in geothermal reservoirs. Most geothermal power plants inject the geothermal steam and water that they use back into the earth. This recycling helps to renew the geothermal resource.

Many geothermal features are national treasures

Geothermal features in national parks, such as geysers and fumaroles in Yellowstone National Park, are protected by law.