Lesson 7

11
Earth Science
Quarter 1 – Module 4:
Energy Resources
Department of Education • Republic of the Philippines

Lesson
Geothermal Energy versus
8 Hydroelectric Energy
What’s In
In the previous lessen, you have learned about non-renewable resources. Non-
renewable resources are natural substances that are not replenished with the speed
at which it is consumed. Fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas and coal are examples
of non-renewable resources.
Have you ever asked yourself where does your house electricity come from?
How can we get such electricity? Is it from the Earth? Is it water flowing from the
river? Now, it is time for you to think about it before moving to the next part of this
module.
Notes to the Teacher

The activities in this module are arranged from simple to complex
to help the learner gradually master the desired learning
competency. Give him/her the needed support and guidance so
that he/she will be able to perform the tasks to prepare him/her
later on in explaining how heat from inside Earth and from flowing
water is tapped as a source of energy for human use.
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What’s New
Activity: What source of heat do you have at home? Read carefully the power
sources listed and check (/) the corresponding boxes of your answer.
Power Sources
Oil
Coal
Natural gas
Electric
Water boiler
Wood
Kerosene
Heat pump
Geothermal
Solar
Biomass
Hydroelectric
In your own opinion, where does geothermal energy come from?

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In your own opinion, where does hydroelectric energy come from?
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What is It
Geothermal Energy
As you descend deeper into the Earth's crust, underground rock and water
become hotter. This heat can be recovered using different geothermal technologies
depending on the temperature. But the heat resources in geothermal reservoirs are
not inexhaustible.
Thermal Gradient
 The adjective geothermal comes from the Greek words ge (earth) and thermos
(heat). It covers all techniques used to recover the heat that is naturally
present in the Earth’s subsurface, particularly in aquifers, the rock reservoirs
that contain groundwater. About half this thermal (or “heat”) energy comes
from the residual heat produced when the planet was formed 4.5 billion years
ago and about half from natural radioactivity.
 The temperature of geothermal water increases with depth, depending on the
thermal gradient — the average rate at which the temperature rises with depth
— of the region where it is found. The average value of the gradient worldwide
is 3°C per 100 meters of depth, but it varies between 1°C and 10°C per 100
meters depending on the physical conditions and geology of the region.
Types of Geothermal Energy

 Geothermal technologies differ with the temperature of geothermal water,
which determines what can be done with it:
o At 20°C to 90°C, geothermal heat and water are used for geothermal
heating. This is called low-temperature geothermal energy.
o At 90°C to 160°C, the water is used on the surface in liquid form. It
transfers its heat to another fluid, which vaporizes at low temperature
and drives a turbine to generate power. This is called medium-
temperature geothermal energy.
o At temperatures above 160°C, the water turns into steam when it
reaches the Earth’s surface. It drives turbines to generate power. This
is called high-temperature geothermal energy.
 The different temperature ranges are general, and practices may vary
according to the economic conditions of the particular location.
How is heat from inside the earth tapped as a source of energy for human
use?
 Thermal energy, contained in the earth, can be used directly to supply heat or
can be converted to mechanical or electrical energy.
Geothermal Reservoirs
- Reservoirs can be suspected in the areas where we find:
 Geyser
 Boiling mud pot
 Volcano
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 Hot springs
- The rising hot water & steam is trapped in permeable & porous rocks to form
a geothermal reservoir.
- Reservoirs can be discovered by testing the soil and analyzing underground
temperature.
Extraction & uses

- The heat energy can be brought to earth surface by following ways:
 directly from hot springs/geysers (direct use)
 geothermal heat pump (indirect use)
How Direct Use Work

- Direct Sources function by sending water down a well to be heated by the
Earth’s warmth.
- Then a heat pump is used to take the heat from the underground water to the
substance that heats the house.
- Then after the water it is cooled is injected back into the Earth.
Direct use of Geothermal Energy

- Hot springs, used as spas.
- Heating water at fish farms.
- Provide heat for buildings.
- Raising plants in greenhouses, drying crops.
- Provides heat to industrial processes.
Indirect use of Geothermal Energy

- Electricity Generation:
o 3 Types of Power Plants:
 Dry Steam Power Plant
 The oldest type of Geothermal power plant used.
 Geothermal reservoir containing pure steam is required.
 Pure dry steam drives turbine.
 Very rare type of geothermal power plant.
 Operating at California, Italy, and Japan.
Figure 8.1 Dry Steam Power Plant

(source: https://images.app.goo.gl/M1MrpJGuH6FKra7R8)
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 Flash Steam Power Plant
 Commonly used geothermal power plant.
 Geothermal reservoirs containing both hot water &
steam is required.
 Pressure changing system is required.
 Operating at Hawaii, Nevada, Utah & some other places
Figure 8.2 Flash Steam Power Plant

(source: https://images.app.goo.gl/Pdh2mQQabYLM3NwQ6)
 Binary Cycle Power Plant

 Does not use steam directly to spin turbines.
 Only the heat of the underground water is used.
 Vapourized hydrocarbons are used to spin the turbine.
 Hydrocarbons having lower boiling point such
as isopentane, isobutane and propane can be used.
 No harmful gas is emitted to the atmosphere because the
underground water is never disclosed to outside.
 This is the worldwide accepted power plant.
Figure 8.3 Binary Cycle Power Plant

(source: https://images.app.goo.gl/fMRheDdPSLW8EpgJA)
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Hydroelectric energy
 Water energy encompasses both plants installed on land — on rivers and lakes
— and ocean energy, which is still being developed and harnesses the force of
waves, tides and currents. Widely used for decades, hydropower plants are
the world’s leading renewable energy source, producing 83% of renewable
power.
 This energy can be used to rotate turbines and dynamos to generate electric
energy at a hydroelectric power station.
 Water falling from a great height has a lot of potential energy that can be used
to drive turbines that generate electricity.
Conversion of potential energy into electrical energy

1. Potential energy is found in water; in a dam, located at a high position.
2. The water that flows down from the dam contains kinetic energy that turns
the water turbines.
3. The water turbines turn the generators which then change the kinetic energy
of the moving water into electrical energy.
A hydroelectric power plant has three main components:

1. A dam that creates a large waterfall and stores enough water to supply the
plant at all times. As well as producing and storing energy, a dam also helps
to regulate flooding.
2. A penstock that channels water from its natural environment (river or lake)
to supply the dam reservoir. It may be an open channel, a tunnel or pipeline.
3. A powerhouse that houses the turbines driven by the waterfall and the
generator driven by the turbines.
- Hydroelectric Energy generation occurs when flowing water turns a turbine,

which produces electricity. There are several subsets of hydroelectricity
generation.
o The most conventional, and recognizable, is the dam method. This is
where water stored in a reservoir flows through a dam and falls into a
river below.
o The pumped storage method is where water is allowed to flow between
two different reservoirs with different heights.
o Run-of-the-river energy generation is when there is little water
storage capacity.
How hydroelectric dams work?

- Large amounts of water are stored in the reservoir behind the dam
- Gravity causes the water to rush through the intake grill near the bottom of
the dam and flow through the penstock
- The water, which is flowing very quickly, rushes past a turbine and spins it.
- The turbine powers a generator, which produces electricity and sends power
to many areas via power lines
How do generators work?

- In general, the turbine converts the energy of the water into mechanical
energy, which then allows the generator to produce electricity
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- The generator operation itself was based on the principles discovered by
Daniel Faraday
- Faraday stated that when a magnet strikes a conductor, it causes electricity
to flow
- Hydroelectric generators work off of the same principle. The turbine spins a
rotor, which contains “field poles”, or loops of wire wound around magnetic
laminations. These field poles are electromagnets
- The rotor rubs against a stator, which acts as a conductor
- This friction between the magnet and conductor produces electricity
Figure 8.4 Dam Method

(source: https://images.app.goo.gl/x6BRykJ964T3NVWg6)
Figure 8.5 Pumped-Storage Method

(source: https://images.app.goo.gl/gF5uApSKCNViMM8u7)
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Figure 8.6 Run-of-the-river generation
(source: https://images.app.goo.gl/8g46jrbr9iHmeSwFA)
Philippine Setting
Geothermal energy is the heat from the Earth. It is clean and sustainable.
Resources of this type of energy ranges from the shallow ground to hot water and hot
rock found a few miles beneath the Earth’s surface, and down even deeper to the
extremely high temperatures of molten rock called magma. One of the operational
geothermal power stations is found in the provinces of Albay and Sorsogon in the
Philippines. This is the BacMan Geothermal Power Plant which is operated by Energy
Development Corporation. The name BacMan is named after the municipalities
where it is located.
We are very lucky about this energy resources since our country, Philippines,
ranked second to the US in terms of geothermal energy deposits. Other geothermal
power plants are also located in Banahaw-Makiling (Laguna), Tiwi (Albay), BacMan
(Sorsogon), Palimpinon (Negros Occidental), Tongonan (Leyte), and Mt. Apo
(Cotabato).
Hydropower plants capture the energy of falling water to generate electricity.

A turbine converts the mechanical energy from the turbine into electrical energy. The
Ambuklao Hydroelectric Plant is the Philippines’ first hydroelectric plant located in
the mountains of Bokod, Benguet. The plant has three 25 megawatt generating units
that provide energy to the majority of the Luzon grid. It utilizes the flow of the Agno
River (the longest waterway in Luzon). In 2000, the facility had to stop operation
because of uncontrolled and heavy siltation. It was auctioned on November 28, 2007.
The winning bid worth 325 million dollars was submitted by SN Aboitiz Power Hydro
Incorporated (SNAP). They are considering the possibility of expanding the generation
capacity of the facility by an additional 20 to 30 %.
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Department of Education • Republic of the Philippines

Notes to the Teacher

In your own opinion, where does geothermal energy come from?

Types of Geothermal Energy

Extraction & uses

How Direct Use Work

Direct use of Geothermal Energy

Indirect use of Geothermal Energy

Figure 8.1 Dry Steam Power Plant

Figure 8.2 Flash Steam Power Plant

 Binary Cycle Power Plant

Figure 8.3 Binary Cycle Power Plant

Conversion of potential energy into electrical energy

A hydroelectric power plant has three main components:

- Hydroelectric Energy generation occurs when flowing water turns a turbine,

How hydroelectric dams work?

How do generators work?

Figure 8.4 Dam Method

Figure 8.5 Pumped-Storage Method

Hydropower plants capture the energy of falling water to generate electricity.

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