A Quick Read on Geothermal Power: What Is It and How Does It Work?

There are a list of geothermal companies that aremake the land unstable in the surrounding areas of
from all over the world such as Mitsubishi, Enel Greenthe power plant. Hot water from the geothermal
Power, Geoscience, Eco Systems Ireland Ltd., Enerflosteam can also be dangerous if it makes its way into
Geothermal Technologies, Geothermex, One Sourceunderground drinking water because it contains
Energy Inc., PB Power, Sky Power Systems, andmercury, lead, and arsenic.
many many more. They all specialize in manyGeothermal plants are popping up all over the world
different things, such as solar power, renewablesuch as Africa, Chile, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico,
energy, geothermal consulting, etc.Iceland, Russia, Portugal, and many other countries.
So what is geothermal power anyway? GeothermalHundreds of thousands of homes in the U.S. use
power is energy generated by the Earth's heat thatgeothermal climate control.
is stored underground. They process this energy inGeothermal energy is expected to produce enough
geothermal plants throughout the world. Homes canenergy to provide us with a power source for
also use geothermal climate control, allowing thethousands of years, which could help save us money
home to be heated in the winter and cooled in thein years to come because geothermal energy is quite
summer while using far less power than traditionalefficient.
methods.How Geothermal Power Came to Be
A geothermal climate controlled home generallyGeothermal energy wasn't used for power until the
works by circulating a liquid throughout the house andtwentieth century. A man from Italy tested the first
underground. In the winter, the liquid absorbs heatgeothermal generator in the early 1900's, which lit up
from underground and disperses it into the home asfour light bulbs. Seven years later in the same
it circulates above ground. During the summerlocation, they built the world's first geothermal power
months, the opposite occurs as the liquid absorbsplant.
heat from the home and disperses the heat into theA few years later the United States caught on to
ground.the idea and built their first geothermal power plant
There are many advantages to this kind of energy.at the Geysers resort. The plant was able to
Heat energy requires no fuel to purchase. Geothermalgenerate enough power to run the whole resort.
plants work twenty-four hours a day making it aThere are so many ways to produce energy to
very competitive company.make electricity, and some are more expensive than
But there are also disadvantages to geothermal heatothers. But if you do your research you will find out
energy. Geothermal fluid is extremely corrosive. Byabout what energy plants are better for our
extracting geothermal fluids it is feared that it willenvironment and which ones are more efficient.