Geothermal energy is clean and renewable source of energy
Geothermal power is "homegrown," offering a domestic source of reliable, renewable … Contact online >>
Geothermal power is "homegrown," offering a domestic source of reliable, renewable
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Find answers to the Geothermal Technologies Office''s (GTO) most frequently asked questions and learn more about the use of geothermal energy.
Wells can be drilled into the earth to tap this energy. In the form of naturally occurring steam and hot water, geothermal energy can be drawn to the surface to generate electricity, heat and cool buildings, and serve other uses.
Learn more with our fact sheet:What is Geothermal Energy?
Several attributes make geothermal a beneficial source of energy, including:
Learn more on our Geothermal Basics page and check out our GeoVision analysis.
In the United States, conventional hydrothermal resources—natural reservoirs of steam or hot water—are available primarily in the western states, Alaska, and Hawaii. However, geothermal energy can be tapped almost anywhere with geothermal heat pumps and direct-use applications. Enhanced geothermal systems (EGS), which can produce power wherever there is hot rock, will be increasingly deployed as the technology is further developed. EGS will also help expand geothermal heating and cooling nationwide.
Learn more about GTO''s projects to advance geothermal technologies through theGeothermal Everywhere campaign.
Geothermal technologies offer many environmental benefits, including:
Learn more in the GeoVision analysis Supporting Task Force Report: Impacts.
District heating systems and geothermal heat pumps can usually be integrated easily into communities, with almost no visual impact. Geothermal power plants tend to have a lower profile and smaller land footprint compared to many other energy-generation technologies, and they do not require fuel storage, transportation, or combustion.
Learn more in the GeoVisionanalysis.
Geothermal energy is heat that flows continuously from the Earth''s core to the surface—and has been doing so for about 4.5 billion years. This heat is continually replenished by the decay of naturally occurring radioactive elements in the Earth''s interior and will remain available for billions of years, ensuring an essentially inexhaustible supply of energy. Geothermal power plants operate by drawing fluid or steam from underground reservoirs, and these reservoirs have been demonstrated long term at geothermal plants such as Lardarello in Italy (1913), Wairakei in New Zealand (1958), and The Geysers in California (1960).
Some geothermal power plants have experienced pressure and production declines, but operators are finding solutions to maintain reservoir pressure. For instance, the city of Santa Rosa, California, pipes its treated wastewater to The Geysers geothermal field to be used as reinjection fluid, thereby prolonging the life of the reservoir while recycling the treated wastewater.
Over the long-term, geothermal power offers a cost-effective means of achieving aggressive decarbonization pathways; in the short-term, however, developing geothermal systems carries significant up-front costs.
Geothermal heat pumps (GHPs), for example, are cost-effective, mature technologies that have been in existence for decades but remain a niche application, due to the costs of implementing ground heat-exchanger loops. Likewise, the costs of building a geothermal power plant are heavily weighted toward early expenses rather than fuel to keep them running. Geothermal energy''s high-capacity factor—its ability to produce electricity 90% of the time or more—means that costs can be recouped more quickly because there is very little downtime once a plant is operational. But exploration activities—from pre-drilling geotechnical studies through exploration, confirmation, and development drilling—have a collective impact on overall project costs and success.
Learn more about how GTO''s research, development, and demonstration is tackling this issue.
There are three geothermal power plant technologies being used to convert hydrothermal fluids to electricity: dry steam, flash steam, and binary cycle. The type of conversion is selected during project development and depends on the state of the subsurface fluid (steam or water) and its temperature.
Learn more about power plant types and see illustrations of each on the Electricity Generation page.
Costs of a geothermal plant are heavily weighted toward early expenses, rather than fuel to keep them running. Exploration activities—pre-drilling geotechnical studies, exploration, confirmation, and development drilling—have a collective impact on overall project costs and success. Most geothermal power plants can run at greater than 90% availability (i.e., producing more than 90% of the time), which means that costs can be recouped more quickly. However, operators need to balance operations with costs and electricity prices. Running at 97% or 98% can increase maintenance costs, but higher-priced electricity justifies running the plant 98% of the time because the resulting higher maintenance costs will be recovered.
Learn more about power plant types on the Electricity Generation page.
Elements that indicate a site may be good for geothermal electricity development include hot subsurface geothermal fluid with low mineral and gas content, shallow aquifers for producing and reinjecting the fluid, a location eligible for permitting, proximity to existing transmission lines or load, and other characteristics. Geothermal fluid temperature should be at least 300°F/149°C, although plants can operate on fluid temperatures as low as 210°F/99°C.
Geothermal heat pumps, or GHPs, use the constant temperature of the shallow Earth (40–70°F/4.5–21°C) to provide heating and cooling solutions for buildings wherever the ground can be cost-effectively accessed to depths below seasonal temperature variations. The thermal energy storage properties of the rocks and soils allow GHPs to act as a heat sink—absorbing excess heat during summer, when surface temperatures are relatively higher—and as a heat source during the winter, when surface temperatures are lower. This increases efficiency and reduces the energy consumption of heating and cooling for residential and commercial buildings.
Learn more on ourgeothermal heat pumpspage and in our fact sheet,What are Geothermal Heat Pumps?
The presence of hot rocks, permeability, and fluid underground creates natural geothermal systems. Small underground pathways conduct fluids through the hot rocks, carrying energy in the form of heat through wells to the Earth''s surface when the conditions are just right. At the surface, that energy drives turbines and generates electricity.
Sometimes conditions are not perfect for natural geothermal systems; the rocks are hot, but they are not very permeable and contain little water. The injection of fluid into the hot rocks enhances the size and connectivity of fluid pathways by reopening fractures. Once created, an enhanced geothermal system (EGS) functions just as a natural geothermal system does. The fluids carry energy to the surface, driving turbines and generating electricity.
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