Geothermal Energy

Seminar
On
Geothermal Energy
Submitted To: Submitted By:

Index
 Introduction
 What is Geothermal Energy
 History
 Applications
 Types
 Uses of Geothermal Energy
 Advantages
 Disadvantages
 Future of Geothermal Energy
 Conclusion
 References
INTRODUCTION
 Geothermal energy is the earth’s natural heat available
inside the earth.
 This thermal energy contained in the rock and fluid
that filled up fractures and pores in the earth’s crust
can profitably be used for various purposes.
 Geothermal energy is an enormous, underused heat
and power resource that is clean (emits little or no
greenhouse gases), reliable (average system
availability of 95%), and homegrown (making us less
dependent on foreign oil).
WHAT IS GEOTHERMAL ENERGY?
 Geothermal energy is defined as heat from the Earth.

 It is a clean, renewable resource that provides energy
in the U.S. and around the world in a variety of
applications and resources.
HISTORY
 Paleo-American Indians used hot springs in this area

 Hot Springs, Arkansas had $1 hot baths in 1830
 First electricity (20kW) from geothermal produced from
natural steam in Larderello, Italy in 1904 [Kruger, 1973]
 New Zealand’s north island gets 6% of its electricity from
geothermal energy
 1920: test boring in Niland CA
 1922: electricity generation in The Geysers
 1950: 95°F, 220kW generating plant in Katanga
 The Geysers CA expanded to 600MW in 1975
APPLICATIONS
…
1. Space/District Heating: Schemes utilizing geothermal heat
provide over 80% of the central heating needs of Reykjavik
city in Iceland and are employed in many towns in USA,
Poland and Hungary.
2. Agriculture and Aquaculture: In temperate and colder
climates, greatly improved plant and fish growth can be
achieved by heating soils, greenhouses and fish ponds using
geothermal heat.
3. Power Generation: With over 8000 MW of installed capacity,

geothermal electric power generation is a well-proven
technology that has been especially successful in countries and
islands that have a high reliance on imported fossil fuels
(World Bank Group, 2004).
APPLICATIONS
THE STRUCTURE OF THE
EARTH
 The heat contained within the earth would cover our
present world energy need for 30 million years. When you
look at the temperature in and on Earth you can see that
99% of the planet has a temperature over 1000°C, while
only 0.1% of the earth is cooler than 100°C.
COSTS OF GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
 Costs for geothermal electricity generation are 4.5-7 cents per

kilowatt-hour. This is competitive with some fossil fuel
facilities, but one must keep in mind the drastic reduction of
pollution.
 Delivered costs depend on ownership arrangements, financing,
transmission, the quality of the resource, and the size of the
project.
 Geothermal plants are relatively capital-intensive, with low
variable costs and no fuel costs.
WHERE IS GEOTHERMAL ENERGY FOUND?
 What does geothermal energy look like? Some visible

features of geothermal energy are volcanoes, hot
springs, geysers, and fumaroles.
 But you cannot see most geothermal energy. Usually
geothermal energy is deep underground.
 There may be no clues above ground to what exists
below ground.
GEOTHERMAL ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
 Geothermal energy is a renewable energy source that

does little damage to the environment.
 Geothermal steam and hot water do contain naturally
occurring traces of hydrogen sulfide (a gas that smells
like rotten eggs) and other gases and chemicals that
can be harmful in high concentrations.
USES OF GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
 Industrial processes
 Geothermal prawn farming
 Horticulture
 Crop and timber drying
TYPES
Liquid-dominated plants
Liquid-dominated reservoirs (LDRs) are more common with
temperatures greater than 200 °C (392 °F) and are found near
young volcanoes surrounding the Pacific Ocean and in rift
zones and hot spots.
Thermal energy
Lower temperature sources produce the energy equivalent of
100M BBL per year. Sources with temperatures from 30-150 C
are used without conversion to electricity for as district
heating, greenhouses, fisheries, mineral recovery, industrial
process heating and bathing in 75 countries.
TYPES
….
Enhanced geothermal
 Enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) actively inject
water into wells to be heated and pumped back out.
 The water is injected under high pressure to expand
existing rock fissures to enable the water to freely flow
in and out.
ADVANTAGES
 It is a renewable source of energy.
 By far, it is non-polluting and environment friendly.
 There is no wastage or generation of by-products.
 Geothermal energy can be used directly. In ancient
times, people used this source of energy for heating
homes, cooking, etc.
DISADVANTAGES
 Only few sites have the potential of Geothermal

Energy.
 Most of the sites, where geothermal energy is
produced, are far from markets or cities, where it needs
to be consumed.
 Total generation potential of this source is too small.
 There is always a danger of eruption of volcano.
ENERGY SOURCE: GEOTHERMAL
 Capturing and Using Geothermal

 The most common current way of capturing the geothermal
energy is to tap into naturally occurring hydrothermal
convection systems containing pressurized hot water or steam.
 Benefits
 Geothermal power plants do not have to use an intermediate
technology to produce steam to power the turbine generators.
 The land needed for geothermal power plants is smaller per
megawatt than for almost any other type of power plant.
CHALLENGES
 Geothermal energy can only be used in areas where the

earth's crust is thin and the steam or hot water sources
are close to the surface.
 Sometimes the hot water that is pumped to the surface
contains pollutants such as sulphur, which must be
removed before using in a power plant.
GLOBAL STATUS AND POTENTIAL
 Geothermal energy is used widely in Iceland, the

Philippines, Italy, Indonesia, Mexico, New Zealand,
Japan and China. Iceland relies on geysers as its
primary source of heat.
 The United States is the world's largest producer of
geothermal electricity with 2,800 MW in service.
FUTURE OF GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
 The future of geothermal energy depends on three

factors: it’s demand, supply and it’s competitiveness
among other renewable resources in terms of cost,
availability, reliability etc.
CONCLUSION
 Geothermal energy is limited in extent as extracting the

heat usually exceeds the replenishment rate
 Hot, dry rock (HDR) is widespread and offers new
resources in areas where geyser activity is unknown
 Direct low-temperature heat transfer for home systems
is practical as long as low maintenance is designed into
the system
 Sources of high temperature water or steam are limited
and the cost of extraction, maintenance, and operation
will remain high in comparison with other sources of
energy
THANK YOU

Geothermal Energy

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Seminar

Submitted To: Submitted By:

 Geothermal energy is defined as heat from the Earth.

 Paleo-American Indians used hot springs in this area

3. Power Generation: With over 8000 MW of installed capacity,

 Costs for geothermal electricity generation are 4.5-7 cents per

 What does geothermal energy look like? Some visible

 Geothermal energy is a renewable energy source that

 Only few sites have the potential of Geothermal

 Capturing and Using Geothermal

 Geothermal energy can only be used in areas where the

 Geothermal energy is used widely in Iceland, the

 The future of geothermal energy depends on three

 Geothermal energy is limited in extent as extracting the

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