|
Geothermal Energy is the use of geothermal heat to generate electricity or provide hot 
water from geothermal heat pumps. Geothermal comes from the Greek words geo,
meaning earth, and therme, meaning heat. Geothermal energy was first used to produce electricity in Italy , in 1903.
By the end of 2005, geothermal energy was generating 9.3 GWs of electricity, with an additional
28 GW used for space heating. If heat recovered by ground source heat pumps is included, geothermal
energy is estimated at more than 100 GWt (gig watts of thermal power) and is used in over 70 countries.
Contracts were placed in 2005 in the United States for an additional capacity of 0.5GW, with a further 11
plants under construction in other countries.
Estimates of useable worldwide geothermal energy resources are varied. According to a study in 1999,
it was thought that this could amount to between 65 and 138 GW of electrical generation capacity.
Although geothermal energy sites are capable of providing heat for many decades, after time, some may cool down. It is likely that in these geothermal energy sites, the system for extracting the energy was designed too large,
since there is only so much energy that can be stored and replenished in a given volume of earth.
This could mean a specific geothermal location can undergo loss of heat or energy. Although geothermal energy sites are capable of providing heat for many years, eventually they lose their energy as the ground cools.
The government of Iceland has stressed that the geothermal resource is not strictly renewable in the long term as geothermal energy sites lose their heat in as the hydro resource is a renewable energy. Iceland ’s geothermal energy could provide 1700 MW for over 100 years, with the current production running at 140 MW.
Geothermal energy is used in over 20 countries around the world with Iceland leading the way with over 50% of its electricity from geothermal sources in 2006, which has big Energy Savings for residents.
The United States, Italy, France, New Zealand, Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Russia, the Philippines along with Indonesia, the People's Republic of China and Japan all with geothermal energy resources. In Canada a geothermal site is being tested in Meager Mountain–Pebble Creek area of British Columbia , where a 100 MW facility could be developed.
Canada has 30,000 geothermal installations which provide heating to domestic and commercial buildings
throughout the Country.
|
.gif)
