Geothermal

By:
Cherry I. Broncate
Gil Godoy
Roi Charles Miranda

GEOTHERMAL
The term Geothermal originates from two Geek words
'GEO' and 'THERM'. The Greek word geo meant the
earth whilst their word for therm meant heat from the
earth. Geothermal energy is energy derived from the
heat of the earth. The earths centre is a distance of
approximately 4000 miles and is so hot that it is molten.
Temperatures are understood to be at least 5000 degrees
centigrade. Heat from the centre of the earth conducts
outwards and heats up the outer layers of rock called the
mantle. When this type of rock melts and becomes
molten it is called magma. Magma can reach just below
the earths surface. Heat is continually produced in this
layer, mostly from the decay of naturally radioactive
materials such as uranium and potassium. The amount of
heat within 10,000 meters (about 33,000 feet) of Earth's
surface contains 50,000 times more energy than all the
oil and natural gas resources in the world.

Rain water sometimes seeps down

through geological fault lines and
cracks becoming super heated by
the hot rocks below. Some of this
super heated water rises back to
the surface of the earth where it
emerges as hot springs or even
geysers. Sometimes the hot water
becomes trapped below the
surface as a geothermal reservoir.

The areas with the highest underground

temperatures are in regions with active

or geologically young volcanoes. These
"hot spots" occur at tectonic plate
boundaries or at places where the crust
is thin enough to let the heat through.
The Pacific Rim, often called the Ring of
Fire for its many volcanoes, has many
hot spots, these regions are seismically
active. Earthquakes and magma
movement break up the rock covering,
allowing water to circulate. As the water
rises to the surface, natural hot springs
and geysers occur. The water in these

Seismically active hotspots are not the

only places where geothermal energy

can be found. There is a steady supply
of milder heatuseful for direct heating
purposesat depths of anywhere from
10 to a few hundred feet below the
surface virtually in any location on
Earth. Even the ground below your own
backyard or local school has enough
heat to control the climate in your home
or other buildings in the community. In
addition, there is a vast amount of heat
energy available from dry rock
formations very deep below the surface

Using the emerging technology known

as Enhanced Geothermal Systems

(EGS), we may be able to capture this
heat for electricity production on a
much larger scale than conventional
technologies currently allow. While still
primarily in the development phase, the
first demonstration EGS projects
provided electricity to grids in the
United States and Australia in 2013.

If the full economic potential of

geothermal resources can be realized, they

would represent an enormous source of
electricity production capacity. In 2012, the
U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory
(NREL) found that conventional geothermal
sources (hydrothermal) in 13 states have a
potential capacity of 38,000 MW, which
could produce 308 million MWh of
electricity annually.
As EGS technologies improve and become
competitive, even more of the largely
untapped geothermal resource could be
developed. The NREL study found that hot
dry rock resources could provide another 4

Not only do geothermal resources in the world

offer great potential, they can also provide

continuous baseload electricity. According to
NREL, the capacity factors of geothermal
plantsa measure of the ratio of the actual
electricity generated over time compared to
what would be produced if the plant was
running nonstop for that periodare
comparable with those of coal and nuclear
power .With the combination of both the size
of the resource base and its consistency,
geothermal can play an indispensable role in a
cleaner, more sustainable power system.

Because of the near limitless ability of the

earth to produce magma, and the

continuous transfer of heat between
subsurface rock and water, geothermal
energy is considered a renewable resource.
Geothermal energy is a consistent and
reliable resource that is ideal for replacing
baseload power sources such as polluting
coal plants. Though initial development of
a project can be expensive, long-term costs
are extremely low. We should be investing
heavily in geothermal development for our
energy future.

History

Geothermal electricity history Geothermal Book -

Italy. I n the early 1900s, geothermal fluids were

already exploited for their energy content. A
chemical industry was set up in Italy during that
period, in the area known now as Larderello, to
extract boric acid from natural hot water outlets
or from purposely drilled shallow boreholes. From
years 1910 to 1940 the low pressure steam, in
that area of Central Tuscany, was utilised to heat
industrial and residential buildings and
greenhouses. In 1928, Iceland, another pioneer
in the utilisation of geothermal energy, began
exploiting its abundant geothermal resources
(mainly hot waters) for domestic heating.

The first attempt to generate electricity from

geothermal steam dates back to 1904 at Larderello.

The success of this experiment (see illustration)
proved the industrial value of geothermal energy
and marked the beginning of an exploitation route
that was developed significantly since then. Actually,
electricity generation at Larderello was a commercial
success. By 1942 the installed geothermoelectric
capacity had reached 128 MWe. This application,
exemplified by Italy, was followed by several
countries. In Japan, the first geothermal wells were
drilled in 1919 and, in 1929, at The Geysers,
California, in the USA. In 1958, a small geothermal
power plant started operating in New Zealand, in
1959 in Mexico, in 1960 in the USA, and in many
other countries the following years.

Geothermal Energy Technologies:

Geothermal Electricity Production

Generating electricity from the earth's

heat.
Geothermal Direct Use
Producing heat directly from hot water
within the earth.
Geothermal Heat Pumps
Using the shallow ground to heat and
cool buildings.

Geothermal Electricity
Geothermal resources have been
Production

harnessed as an energy source since

the dawn of civilization, when natural
hot springs were first used for
cooking and bathing. The geothermal
resources tapped to generate
electricity are far more intense than
those used for space heating and can
reside as deep as 10,000 feet below
the earth's surface.

Capital costs for the construction of

geothermal power plants are much

higher than for large coal-fired plants or
new natural gas turbine technologies.
But geothermal plants have reasonable
operation and maintenance costs and
no fuel costs. Though more expensive
than wind power in most cases, new
geothermal electricity generation
facilities are increasingly competitive
with fossil options.

Most power plants need

steam to
generate electricity. The
steam
rotates a turbine that
activates a generator, which
produces electricity. Many power
plants still use fossil fuels to boil
water for steam. Geothermal power
plants, however, use steam produced
from reservoirs of hot water found a
couple of miles or more below the

There are three types of

geothermal power plants:
dry steam, flash steam,
and binary cycle.

Dry steam power plants draw from

underground resources of steam. The

steam is piped directly from
underground wells to the power plant,
where it is directed into a
turbine/generator unit. There are only
two known underground resources of
steam in the United States: The Geysers
in northern California and Yellowstone
National Park in Wyoming, where there's
a well-known geyser called Old Faithful.
Since Yellowstone is protected from
development, the only dry steam plants

Flash steam power plants are the

most common. They use geothermal

reservoirs of water with temperatures
greater than 360F (182C). This very
hot water flows up through wells in the
ground under its own pressure. As it
flows upward, the pressure decreases
and some of the hot water boils into
steam. The steam is then separated
from the water and used to power a
turbine/generator. Any leftover water
and condensed steam are injected back
into the reservoir, making this a

Binary cycle power plants operate on

water at lower temperatures of about 225360F (107-182C). These plants use the
heat from the hot water to boil a working
fluid, usually an organic compound with a
low boiling point. The working fluid is
vaporized in a heat exchanger and used to
turn a turbine. The water is then injected
back into the ground to be reheated. The
water and the working fluid are kept
separated during the whole process, so
there are little or no air emissions.

Small-scale geothermal power plants

(under 5 megawatts) have the potential

for widespread application in rural
areas, possibly even as distributed
energy resources. Distributed energy
resources refer to a variety of small,
modular power-generating technologies
that can be combined to improve the
operation of the electricity delivery
system.

Currently, two types of geothermal

resources can be used in binary cycle

power plants to generate electricity:
enhanced geothermal systems (EGS)
and low-temperature or co-produced
resources.
*Enhanced Geothermal Systems
*Low-Temperature and Co-Produced
Resources

Dry steam
Flash
Binary

Video 1

Enhanced Geothermal Systems

Geothermal heat occurs everywhere

under the surface of the earth, but

the conditions that make water
circulate to the surface are found in
less than 10 percent of Earth's land
area. An approach to capturing the
heat in dry areas is known as
enhanced geothermal systems (EGS)
or "hot dry rock".

Hot Dry Rock Geothermal

Energy Technology

The hot rock reservoirs, typically at

greater depths below the surface than

conventional sources, are first broken
up by pumping high-pressure water
through them. The plants then pump
more water through the broken hot
rocks, where it heats up, returns to the
surface as steam, and powers turbines
to generate electricity. The water is then
returned to the reservoir through
injection wells to complete the
circulation loop. Plants that use a
closed-loop binary cycle release no
fluids or heat-trapping emissions other

Low-Temperature and Co-Produced Resources

Low-temperature and co-produced geothermal

resources are typically found at temperatures

of 300F (150C) or less. Some low-temperature
resources can be harnessed to generate
electricity using binary cycle technology. Coproduced hot water is a byproduct of oil and gas
wells in the United States. This hot water is
being examined for its potential to produce
electricity, helping to lower greenhouse gas
emissions and extend the life of oil and gas
fields.

Geothermal Direct U
When a person takes a hot bath, the
se

heat from the water will usually warm

up the entire bathroom. Geothermal
reservoirs of hot water, which are
found a couple of miles or more
beneath the Earth's surface, can also
be used to provide heat directly. This
is called the direct use of geothermal
energy.

Geothermal direct use dates back thousands of

years, when people began using hot springs for

bathing, cooking food, and loosening feathers
and skin from game. Today, hot springs are still
used as spas. But there are now more
sophisticated ways of using this geothermal
resource.
In modern direct-use systems, a well is drilled
into a geothermal reservoir to provide a steady
stream of hot water. The water is brought up
through the well, and a mechanical system piping, a heat exchanger, and controls - delivers
the heat directly for its intended use. A disposal
system then either injects the cooled water
underground or disposes of it on the surface.

Geothermal hot water can be used for

many applications that require heat. Its

current uses include heating buildings
(either individually or whole towns),
raising plants in greenhouses, drying
crops, heating water at fish farms, and
several industrial processes, such as
pasteurizing milk. With some
applications, researchers are exploring
ways to effectively use the geothermal
fluid for generating electricity as well.

Geothermal Heat Pum

Geothermal Heat Pumps Can Be Used
ps
Anywhere
Geothermal heat pumps can be used for

heating and cooling buildings virtually

anywhere. Though initial installations costs
exceed those for conventional heating and
cooling systems, monthly energy bills are
always lower. Thus, within a few years,
cumulative energy savings equal the extra
up-front cost of installation. Thereafter,
heating and cooling costs are less than
those associated with conventional

How Do Geothermal Heat Pumps Work?

A heat pump is simply a machine that causes thermal
energy to flow up temperature, that is, opposite the
direction it would flow naturally without some
intervention (see accompanying sketches). Thus, a
heat pump is commonly used for space heating and
cooling, when outside ambient air temperature is
uncomfortably cold or hot, respectively. The cooling
and heating functions require the input of "extra" work
(usually electrical energy) in order to force heat to flow
upstream, and the greater the "lift," or difference in
temperature between the interior of a building and the
outside, the more work is needed to accomplish the
function. A geothermal heat pump increases the
efficiency of the heating and cooling functions by
substantially decreasing the thermal lift.

Heat pumps provide significant energy savings,

Comparison With Electricity

more than 75 percent as compared to electric

baseboard heating and between 30 and 60
percent relative to other methods of heating and
cooling. Many utilities, particularly in the Eastern
United States, have subsidized the installation of
geothermal heat pumps, also known as
geoexchange systems, to help reduce peak
demand for electric power. The lower electrical
usage associated with the widespread use of
geothermal heat pumps has allowed utilities to
avoid or postpone construction of new power
plants in areas where suitable land and
transmission facilities are very difficult to acquire.

What are the environmental impacts?

Flash technologies allow the geothermal
fluid to expand and release gases into the
atmosphere when the steam is created.
Binary technology keeps the geothermal
fluid contained, using heat exchangers to
capture heat to provide steam. Though
these air emissions represent tiny
quantities and generally do not pose any
serious environmental threat, the chemical
characteristics of geothermal resources are
highly site-specific. Dissolved gases usually
include carbon dioxide (CO2), methane,
hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, nitrogen and

What are the environmental impacts?

Groundwater contamination,
which can be easily prevented, is
the principal pollution concern.
The disposal of water and
wastewater may cause significant
pollution of surface waters and
ground water supplies. Still, used
geothermal fluids are generally
collected and re-injected. This
maintains pressures in underground
reservoirs, but also allows for

Geothermal Power
Plants
At a geothermal power plant, wells

are drilled 1 or 2 miles deep into the

Earth to pump steam or hot water to
the surface. You're most likely to find
one of these power plants in an area
that has a lot of hot springs, geysers,
or volcanic activity, because these
are places where the Earth is
particularly hot just below the
surface.

How It Works

Geothermal Heat Pumps

1. Hot water is pumped from deep underground
through a well under high pressure.
2. When the water reaches the surface, the
pressure is dropped, which causes the water to
turn into steam.
3. The steam spins a turbine, which is connected
to a generator that produces electricity.
4. The steam cools off in a cooling tower and
condenses back to water.
5. The cooled water is pumped back into the
Earth to begin the process again.

video

Geothermal Heat Pumps

How It Works

Geothermal Heat Pumps

1. Water or a refrigerant moves through a loop of
2.

3.
4.

5.

pipes.
When the weather is cold, the water or refrigerant
heats up as it travels through the part of the loop
that's buried underground.
Once it gets back above ground, the warmed water
or refrigerant transfers heat into the building.
The water or refrigerant cools down after its heat is
transferred. It is pumped back underground where
it heats up once more, starting the process again.
On a hot day, the system can run in reverse. The
water or refrigerant cools the building and then is
pumped underground where extra heat is
transferred to the ground around the pipes.

How geothermal energy is

captured
Geothermal springs for power plants.
Currently, the most common way of capturing
the energy from geothermal sources is to tap
into naturally occurring "hydrothermal
convection" systems, where cooler water seeps
into Earth's crust, is heated up, and then rises
to the surface. Once this heated water is forced
to the surface, it is a relatively simple matter to
capture that steam and use it to drive electric
generators. Geothermal power plants drill their
own holes into the rock to more effectively
capture the steam.

Indicators of presence of geohermal activity

The presence of geothermal waters that
provide potential sources of usable
energy depends in general on two basic
factors (Szewczyk2010):
Geophysicalthe Earth geothermal flux
and the associated rock mass
temperature.
Hydrogeologicalthe hydraulic
conductivity of aquifers and the
mineralisation of underground waters.

The future of geothermal energy

Geothermal energy has the potential to play a

significant role in moving the United States (and

other regions of the world) toward a cleaner,
more sustainable energy system. It is one of the
few renewable energy technologies that can
supply continuous, baseload power. Additionally,
unlike coal and nuclear plants, binary geothermal
plants can be used a flexible source of energy to
balance the variable supply of renewable
resources such as wind and solar. Binary plants
have the capability to ramp production up and
down multiple times each day, from 100 percent
of nominal power down to a minimum of 10
percent .

The future of geothermal energy

The costs for electricity from geothermal

facilities are also becoming increasingly

competitive. The U.S. Energy Information
Administration (EIA) projected that the
levelized cost of energy (LCOE) for new
geothermal plants (coming online in 2019) will
be less than 5 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh),
as opposed to more than 6 cents for new
natural gas plants and more than 9 cents for
new conventional coal. There is also a bright
future for the direct use of geothermal
resources as a heating source for homes and
businesses in any location.

The future of geothermal energy

However, in order to tap into the full
potential of geothermal energy, two
emerging technologies require further
development: Enhanced Geothermal
Systems (EGS) and co-production of
geothermal electricity in oil and gas
wells.

GEOTHERMAL ENERGY AND THE

ENVIRONMENT
The environmental impact of geothermal
energy depends on how it is being used.
Geothermal power plants do not burn fuel to
generate electricity, so their emission levels
are very low. They release less than 1 percent
of the carbon dioxide emissions of a fossil fuel
plant. Geothermal plants use scrubber
systems to clean the air of hydrogen sulfide
that is naturally found in the steam and hot
water. Geothermal plants emit 97 percent less
acid rain - causing sulfur compounds than are
emitted by fossil fuel plants. After the steam
and water from a geothermal reservoir have
been used, they are injected back into the

GEOTHERMAL ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Direct use and heating applications

have almost no negative impact on

the environment.
Geothermal features in national
parks, such as geysers and fumaroles
in Yellowstone National Park, are
protected by law, to prevent the land
from being disturbed.

Top ten countries for direct use of

geothermal energy
Country

Annual use (terajoules/year)

China

75 348

United States of America

56 552

Sweden

45 301

Turkey

36 886

Norway

25 200

Iceland

24 361

Japan

15 698

France

12 926

Germany

12 765

Netherlands

10 699

Source: Lund, Freeston and Boyd, 2011.

Top ten countries for use of geothermal

energy in power generation, 19902010
and 2015 forecast
El
Salvad
Year
1990

or

New

Iceland Indonesia Italy

95

45

145

105

50

310

2000

161

170

590

2005

151

202

2007

204

2010

2015

1995

545

Japan

Kenya Mexico Zealand

United
Philippines States

215

45

700

283

414

45

753

286

785

547

45

755

437

1 909

2 228

797

791

535

129

953

435

1 930

2 564

421

992

811

535

129

953

472

1 970

2 924

204

575

1 197

863

536

167

958

628

1 904

3 087

290

800

3 500

920

535

530

1 140

1 240

2 500

5 400

632

Installed capacityin megawatts

891

1227

2 775

2 817

Other Applications
Fish backbones dried in a conveyor dryer
using geothermal energy in Iceland

Geothermal energy is also used to heat sidewalks

and roads in order to prevent freezing in the winter.
Most recently, the Netherlands began
using geothermal energy to keep bike lanes from fr
eezing
in the wintertime, for instance.

Pilot-scale cotton dryer using

geothermal energy in Greece

Fish drying in a geothermal tunnel dryer in

Iceland

Secondary drying of fish in containers in Iceland

Polyethylene heating tubes in a plastic-covered

greenhouse for vegetable cultivation (left), and
polypropylene heating tubes laid on the soil in
a glass-covered greenhouse (right) in Greece


Tomato cultivation in a greenhouse in Iceland &
Cucumber cultivation in a greenhouse in Iceland

Raceway pond for cultivation of spirulina

using geothermal energy in Nigrita, Greece

Geothermal laundry in Hveragerdi

Greenhouses
For the past 25 years, greenhouse heating has been the most
common use of geo-thermal energy in agriculture. In many
European countries, geothermal heat is used to produce
vegetables, fruits and flowers on a commercial scale all year
round.
The use of geothermal energy to heat greenhouses has several
benefits (Popovski and Vasilevska, 2003):
Geothermal energy often costs less than energy from other
available sources. Geothermal heating systems are relatively
simple to install and maintain.
Greenhouses account for a large share of agricultures total
consumption ofenthalpy energy.
Greenhouse production areas are often close to low-enthalpy
geothermal reservoirs.
It improves the efficiency of food production by making use of
locally available energy sources.

Heating pipe distribution for a soil

warming system inside a greenhouse

Geothermal heat exchanger

Also includes:
Milk pasteurization
Industrial space air conditioning;
Food processing;
Food drying;
Pulp and paper processing;
Washing and dyeing of textiles;
Leather and fur treatment;
Fuel production and oil enhancing
Chemical production;
Mineral production: sulphur, gases, salts or other

precious metals.