welcome, to G O THERMAL hot spot
Friday, February 4, 2011
Why is geothermal energy so important?
Today, we burn fossil fuels for daily use when we could be uses geothermal energy. Fossil fuels were found to be the leading contributors to the Green house gases. Finding these renewable energy sources will help us with a better future.
Cool facts
Cool fact: geothermal heated water is used to speed up the growth of fish!
Cool fact: alligators also hang out in geothermal heated water in states such as Idaho.
Cool fact: Geothermal energy is also used for factory and industrial uses. One example of this is a plant in Brady Nevada dries out onions for Burger King.
Cool fact: there are pipes under some roads like in Klamath Falls, Oregon that use geothermal energy to keep them from freezing over in the winter.
Source
The source of geothermal energy comes from the Earth’s core. Geothermal energy is a renewable energy source because the heat is continuously made inside the Earth.
How does geothermal energy get from the source to your house?
Naturally, heat inside Earth’s core moves outward and toward the surface. Power generation plants use geothermal heat to create electricity. Geothermal heat pumps (sometimes called GHPs) are placed a few feet underground. These GHPs use a fluid that runs through the pipes. This fluid absorbs heat from the ground. The Earth’s heat is transferred into a circulating fluid and then transferred again into the home. Standard ductwork is used to fill the home with heat.
The Advantages and Disadvantages of Geothermal Energy
For the upsides of geothermal energy, it doesn’t produce by products, there is no consumption of fossil fuels, and doesn’t produce any greenhouse effects. The Geothermal power plants themselves are self-sufficient, don’t have to be big, and have little maintenance.
Though there are some downsides to geothermal energy, there aren’t very many dangers to it. The most dangerous part of geothermal energy would be that if it is drilled improperly, there could be a release of dangerous chemicals. The other downsides to geothermal energy would be that the plants can’t be built anywhere; it has to be on suitable hot rocks at just the right depth. It is possible for geothermal energy areas to run dry or lose steam.
How geothermal energy is used today-
Today, geothermal energy is used by drilling wells in the earth’s surface and bringing up hot water. To test where exactly the water is, geologists, geochemists, and engineers drill the surface to bring up that water. Once the hot water or steam travels up from the earth, it can be used to generate electricity. Today, many people use geothermal energy to heat items like pools, hot tubs, and health spas.
The amount of people estimated that still use geothermal energy today are about 60 million people, mostly in developing countries.
Examples:
· Green houses
· Pools
· Hot tubs
· Spas
Thursday, February 3, 2011
How Is Geothermal Energy Used?
Hot water and steam from the ground are used to make electricity. Geothermal energy can be used to heat greenhouses or buildings. It is also used to power large amounts of machines. Geothermal Energy is widely used because it is reliable and reduces the necessity of imported fuels.
How Much Is Geothermal Energy Cost?
How much does Geothermal Energy cost? Well, It costs $6,000 to install a geothermal energy heating and cooling system in your home. $60 a month would be the lowest. In the middle of the summer it might get up to $120 a month.
Will we have an increase in use of geothermal energy?
I believe we will see an increase in the near future of the use of this energy source. I belive this because it is cheap and by-product free, which will attract many people.
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