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Geothermal Energy |
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by Dharmendra Kapri | 14-08-2016 08:18
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The Earth is made up of different layers, from the unbelievably hot core (up to 6000?!) to the hard crust on the surface, on which we all live. In some places, this crust is quite thick (up to 70km thick) and in others e.g. Iceland it is very thin (6km). Here, the hot molten rock is not far underground and it can work its way up to the surface through cracks and faults in the crust. Rain seeps into these cracks and heats up – instant hot water right under your feet! Iceland gets 90% of its hot water like this.
The steam from this hot water can also be used in geothermal power stations to produce electricity. But of course there are both good things and bad things about geothermal energy: * It works 24 hours a day, every day. And it is renewable.
* No fossil fuels are used so no extra greenhouse gases are pumped into the atmosphere.
* No transport is needed to get the power to houses – it is right underfoot!
* These countries don?t need to buy in expensive fuels like coal, oil and gas from other countries.
The downsides are:
* Only a few places in the world are situated where the earth?s crust is thin enough to use geothermal energy. It is difficult and expensive to transport geothermal energy to places away from where it is produced. * The hot spots are not necessarily stable and conditions can change abruptly as the plates in the earth?s crust shift.
Geothermal heat-pumps- On a smaller, cooler scale, energy can be produced in places where the crust is thicker, by using the soil temperature. In the winter the soil is warmer than the air and in summer it is cooler than the air. Pipes are dug into the soil and the air in the pipes flows through heat exchangers, like in the back of a fridge, to heat buildings in the summer and cool them down in winter. |
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Former E-gen Ambassador
Dharmendra Kapri
Previous : Biomass Energy
7 Comments
Thanks for sharing!
Posted 17-08-2016 15:04
Dharmendra, geothermal energy, if safely and stably used, it may be able to create tons of energy. Countries that have suitable environments should put effort in developing this type of energy source. Thanks for sharing and have a great day!
Posted 16-08-2016 21:12
Geothermal seems very cool and that was what Bill Gates actually suggested for Africa. I do think that it geothermal is just a partial solution to Energy needs. Thanks for the report
Posted 15-08-2016 03:32
In Kenya we have Ol Karia geothermal station, among others. The use of geothermal energy in Kenya is, however, a recent achievement and it supplements the HEP energy that we have been using. Now that we use both, electricity costs have gone down and many more people have gotten access to electricity. We have also seen a marked rise in the use of solar energy to generate electricity. All in all, I would say, in as far as this area is concerned, Kenya is doing a good job.
Posted 14-08-2016 22:23
Thanks for an informative report on pros and cons of Geothermal energy-one of the clean energy sources.
Posted 14-08-2016 21:19
in Kenya even though crust is thicker we have a place where geothermal heat is produced in olkaria rift valley.the power station there produces around 30megawatts of power
Posted 14-08-2016 15:17
geothermal is the only perfect energy to the environment
Posted 14-08-2016 15:14