Sunday, November 28, 2010

Geothermal Energy


Here's an interesting video on geothermal energy. Geothermal got touched on a few times in the class, but I feel like this video gives a little more insight to what we have learned. To sum it up, the video states that geothermal electricity is generated by pumping water down into the Earth and harnessing the resulting steam to power a turbine. Some of the pluses to using geothermal consist of not having to burn any fuels to generate electricity for the public, plus the fact that geothermal energy is always readily available-it doesn't depend on the sun being out or the wind blowing. One of the drawbacks is an increase in earthquake activity due to the drilling and water injection at geothermal plants.

1 comment:

  1. Very interesting. I have never really looked into geothermal power as a viable replacement for coal. Some things to consider are the maintenance costs of running these plants. Solar and wind require relatively little maintenance. Steam is extremely corrosive sometimes and can lead to turbine failure. Also, whatever that seismologist says, creating earthquakes is one thing, and controlling them is another. I also don't believe that we can control earthquakes. However, I am more interested in geothermal power now. Great video!

    ReplyDelete