Geothermal Energy

1. Geothermal Energy By: Louis Atuncar Jasmin Villalba Maria Castillo

2. Why Geothermal? • Geothermal energy is thermal energy generated and stored in the Earth. Thermal energy is the energy that determines the temperature of matter. Earth's geothermal energy originates from the original formation of the planet (20%) and from radioactive decay of minerals (80%). • The geothermal gradient, which is the difference in temperature between the core of the planet and its surface, drives a continuous conduction of thermal energy in the form of heat from the core to the surface. The adjective geothermal originates from the Greek roots ge- meaning earth, and thermos, meaning hot. • The Green Home Builders is a community working together to make everyone use Geothermal Energy

3. The Earth is not Solid • The Earth is made in layers in which geothermal energy is produced in the core. • The first step in the organic creation of geothermal energy is that the core gets boiled until it releases a huge amount of energy, known as geothermal energy • It is then that the energy is pushed to the surface where it is released • The energy is spread throughout the atmosphere and is caught by man for our uses • This energy is renewable because it is organic, meaning coming from the earth • Geothermal energy is generated by heat stored beneath the earths surface

4. The Earth is Not Solid

5. Geothermal is Renewable • Geothermal power plants don’t burn fuel to produce electricity, they just use the energy’s fuel cells to • Geothermal energy is eco-friendly because it is organic • It only release 1% of Carbon-dioxide into the atmosphere • It is amazing how it uses 97% of rainfall as one of its many power supplies • Geothermal energy supplies less than 10% of the word’s energy supplies • Geothermal energy is sustainable because water can be re-injected into the earths surface

6. Geothermal is Renewable

7. Where is geothermal energy found? • Geothermal energy naturally occurs in large areas of hydrothermal resources as the form of volcanoes, geysers, or hot springs • These areas are also referred to as geothermal reservoirs • It can also be found underground which is one of the main reasons why mining started in North America • Geothermal Energy is found in locations with high temperatures • Most geothermal reservoirs are found near plate boundaries, especially in the Pacific Plate-Boundary • When magma makes contact to the surface, it heats the ground-water trapped on fractures and faults making hydrothermal resources which leads to the creation of geothermal reservoirs • The U.S has a massive supply of geothermal reservoirs which has been producing energy since 1960

8. Where is Geothermal Energy found?

9. We use geothermal energy • Geothermal energy has three main uses: Heating; Electricity generating; and geothermal heat pumps • Geothermal energy exploit uses three basic types of geothermal power plants: Dry steam, Flash steam and Binary power plant. • Geothermal energy is widely used in California with more than 30 geothermal power plants that are producing more than 90 % of the geothermal electricity in the USA. • Geothermal energy widely exploited in Iceland, New Zealand, Japan, Italy, Philippines and in USA mostly in California and Nevada.

10. Electricity • Geothermal energy is widely used in California with more than 30 geothermal power plants that are producing more than 90 % of the geothermal electricity in the USA. • Geothermal energy's amount of electricity is less than 1 percent of total electricity produced in the USA. • Geothermal energy is giving 18 % of Iceland's total electricity. • Geothermal energy could produce 10 percent of US electricity by the year 2050. • Geothermal energy could supply US with more than 30,000 MW of power by 2025. • Geothermal energy can be easily found and exploited along the "Ring of Fire" region. • Geothermal energy is extremely efficient (almost 100 %) energy source where only real source of losing energy is from turbine friction. • Geothermal energy has only one real problem and that is lack easily accessible sites. A Geothermal advantage is also the fact that geothermal power plants run continuously day and night with an uptime typically exceeding 95%.

11. Electricity

12. Geothermal Facts • Geothermal energy is a form of renewable energy derived from heat deep in the earth's crust. • Geothermal Energy has been around for as long as the Earth has existed. "Geo" means earth, and "thermal" means heat. So, geothermal means earth-heat. • Geothermal power is generated in over 20 countries around the world including Iceland, the United States, Italy, France, Lithuania, New Zealand, Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Russia, the Philippines, Indonesia, the People's Republic of China and Japan. • The entire world resource base of geothermal energy has been calculated in government surveys to be larger than the resource bases of coal, oil, gas and uranium combined. • Iceland is situated in an area with a high concentration of volcanoes, making it an ideal location for generating geothermal energy. Over 26% of Iceland's electrical energy is generated from geothermal sources. In addition, geothermal heating is used to heat 87% of homes in Iceland. Icelanders plan to be 100% non-fossil fuel in the near future. • About 2850 megawatts of geothermal generation capacity is available from power plants in the western United States. Geothermal energy generates about 2% of the electricity in Utah, 6% of the electricity in California and almost 10% of the electricity in northern Nevada. • Today, geothermal energy is utilized in three technology categories: • Heating and cooling buildings via geothermal heat pumps that utilize shallow sources • Heating structures with direct-use applications • Generating electricity through indirect use. • The most active geothermal resources are usually found along major plate boundaries where earthquakes and volcanoes are concentrated. Most of the geothermal activity in the world occurs in an area called the Ring of Fire. This area rims the Pacific Ocean. • A common way in which geothermal energy is obtained is through tapping into hydrothermal sites, also called geothermal springs. These sites are geologically active places where water seeps into the Earth's crust and is heated by the Earth's interior, rising to the surface as steam.

13. Geothermal Energy Usage CHINA UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Has a supply of geothermal energy in the western part of the country Has power plants set up mainly in the west Geothermal Energy is created generally in plate-boundaries, so the nearest plate-boundary is in the western part of the U.S.A • Uses 8,724 watts every month. • Uses the cleanest energy • Has the largest supply of Geothermal Energy in the world • Has geothermal energy power plants all over the country

14. Geothermal Energy Usage • China 19.5% United States 12.6% Iceland 12.5% Turkey 9.8% New Zealand 4.4% Georgia 3.9% Russia 3.8% Japan 3.6% France 3% Sweden 2.6% Mexico 2.4% Italy 2.3% Romania 1.8% Hungary 1.8% India 1.6% Switzerland 1.5% Serbia and Montenegro 1.5% Slovakia 1.3% Israel 1.1% Bulgaria 1%

15. IGA • The International Geothermal Association (IGA), founded in 1988, is a scientific, educational and cultural organization established to operate worldwide. It has more than 5,200 members in over 65 countries. • The IGA is a non-political, non-profit, non-governmental organization. The objectives of the IGA are to encourage research, the development and utilization of geothermal resources worldwide through the publication of scientific and technical information among the geothermal specialists, the business community, governmental representatives, UN organizations, civil society and the general public. The IGA headquarters is located in Bochum, Germany at the International Geothermal Centre of the Bochum University of Applied Sciences.IGA is a founding partner of the International Renewable Energy Alliance (REN Alliance). The REN Alliance is a close partnership of five globally operating renewable energy associations with the aim of promoting renewable energy sources worldwide. The work includes political dialogue and advisory on potentials and scenarios for renewable, sustainability assessments, carbon funds, policies and other related fields.The other REN Alliance partners are the International Hydropower Association (IHA), the International Solar Energy Society (ISES), the World Bio-energy Association (WBA) and the World Wind Energy Association (WWEA).

16. International Connection: China Stocks • But Chinese company Great Wall Drilling is now making itself a foreign force in Africa, where a dire need to develop domestic energy resources means companies from the Middle Kingdom are moving in steadily. • Kenya's state-run Geothermal Development Company (GDC) recently committed $240 million per year to the expansion of the national geothermal power resource. • Kenya is reliant on hydropower for most of its electricity, and droughts consistently threaten that resource and subsequent power delivery. • With its landscape cut across by the Great Rift Valley, which is in the process of splitting two parts of the tectonic African Plate, Kenya holds a geothermal output potential of 7000 megawatts (7 GW). Currently, only 167 MW of that has been tapped. • By 2030, the Kenyan government has set the goal of bringing 4000 MW of geothermal power online to serve one of Africa's most promising developing nations. • Great Wall Drilling is furthering the recent trend of Chinese companies moving into African resource markets by launching a massive exploration and production campaign. Great Wall Drilling has 47 wells in Kenya either planned or already dug. • Those pilot wells will serve to give Kenyan officials in the capital Nairobi and throughout the country more of an idea of how to maximize official funds and draw investment from global geothermal leaders like Ormat Technologies (NYSE:ORA). • Great Wall Drilling will be just one of many international companies Kenya needs to get 72 wells drilled per year to reach 4 GW by 2030. • Stay with Green Chip Stocks to learn more about how the development of alternative energy resources in developing countries like Kenya could help them "leapfrog" fossil fuel. The same has already happened with telecoms, as Kenya bypassed fixed-line infrastructure for wireless communication.

17. International Connection: ChinaEconomics • Geothermal power requires no fuel (except for pumps), and is therefore immune to fuel cost fluctuations. However, capital costs are significant. Drilling accounts for over half the costs, and exploration of deep resources entails significant risks. A typical well doublet (extraction and injection wells) in Nevada can support 4.5 megawatts (MW) and costs about $10 million to drill, with a 20% failure rate. • In total, electrical plant construction and well drilling cost about €2-5 million per MW of electrical capacity, while the break–even price is 0.04-0.10 € per kW·h. Enhanced geothermal systems tend to be on the high side of these ranges, with capital costs above $4 million per MW and break–even above $0.054 per kW·h in 2007.[31] Direct heating applications can use much shallower wells with lower temperatures, so smaller systems with lower costs and risks are feasible. Residential geothermal heat pumps with a capacity of 10 kilowatt (kW) are routinely installed for around $1–3,000 per kilowatt. District heating systems may benefit from economies of scale if demand is geographically dense, as in cities, but otherwise piping installation dominates capital costs. The capital cost of one such district heating system in Bavaria was estimated at somewhat over 1 million € per MW. Direct systems of any size are much simpler than electric generators and have lower maintenance costs per kW·h, but they must consume electricity to run pumps and compressors. Some governments subsidize geothermal projects. • Geothermal power is highly scalable: from a rural village to an entire city. • Chevron Corporation is the world's largest private geothermal electricity producer. The most developed geothermal field is The Geysers in Northern California.

18. International Connection: ChinaEnvironmental Effects • Fluids drawn from the deep earth carry a mixture of gases, notably carbon dioxide (CO2), hydrogen sulfide (H2S), methane (CH4) and ammonia (NH3). These pollutants contribute to global warming, acid rain, and noxious smells if released. Existing geothermal electric plants emit an average of 122 kilograms (270 lb) of CO2 per megawatt-hour (MW·h) of electricity, a small fraction of the emission intensity of conventional fossil fuel plants.Plants that experience high levels of acids and volatile chemicals are usually equipped with emission-control systems to reduce the exhaust. • In addition to dissolved gases, hot water from geothermal sources may hold in solution trace amounts of toxic chemicals such as mercury, arsenic, boron, and antimony.[42] These chemicals precipitate as the water cools, and can cause environmental damage if released. The modern practice of injecting cooled geothermal fluids back into the Earth to stimulate production has the side benefit of reducing this environmental risk. • Direct geothermal heating systems contain pumps and compressors, which may consume energy from a polluting source. This parasitic load is normally a fraction of the heat output, so it is always less polluting than electric heating. However, if the electricity is produced by burning fossil fuels, then the net emissions of geothermal heating may be comparable to directly burning the fuel for heat. For example, a geothermal heat pump powered by electricity from a combined cyclenatural gas plant would produce about as much pollution as a natural gas condensing furnace of the same size. Therefore the environmental value of direct geothermal heating applications is highly dependent on the emissions intensity of the neighboring electric grid. • Plant construction can adversely affect land stability. Subsidence has occurred in the Wairakei field in New Zealand and in Staufen in Breisgau, Germany.Enhanced geothermal systems can trigger earthquakes as part of hydraulic fracturing. The project in Basel, Switzerland was suspended because more than 10,000 seismic events measuring up to 3.4 on the Richter Scale occurred over the first 6 days of water injection.

19. International Connection: ChinaLegal Usage • Some of the legal issues raised by geothermal energy resources include questions of ownership and allocation of the resource, the grant of exploration permits, exploitation rights, royalties, and the extent to which geothermal energy issues have been recognized in existing planning and environmental laws. Other questions concern overlap between geothermal and mineral or petroleum tenements. Broader issues concern the extent to which the legal framework for encouragement of renewable energy assists in encouraging geothermal industry innovation and development.

20. International Connection: ChinaFuture Usage • 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 - like fossil fuels - can supply continuous, base load power. The costs for electricity from geothermal facilities are also declining. Some geothermal facilities have realized at least 50% reductions in the price of electricity since 1980. New facilities can produce electricity for between 4.5 and 7.3 cents per kilowatt-hour, making it competitive with new conventional fossil fuel-fired power plants. • As hot dry rock technologies improve and become competitive, even more of the largely untapped geothermal resource could be developed. In addition to electric power generation, which is focused primarily in the western United States, there is a bright future for the direct use of geothermal resources as a heating source for homes and businesses everywhere. • May 2010: Google invests in a new technology. A novel drill that is inspired by a jet engine and uses super-heated water to carve through rock could help make clean energy from underground rocks more economically viable, according to its backers at Google. A report by MIT estimated says that tapping just 2% of the potential resource from so-called enhanced geothermal systems between 3km and 10km below the surface of continental USA could supply more than 2,500 times the country's total annual energy use.