Geothermal energy

thermal energy generated and stored in the Earth

originates from the original formation of the planet (20%) and from radioactive
decay of minerals (80%)
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
Worldwide, about 10,715 megawatts (MW) of geothermal power is online in 24 coun
tries
cost effective, reliable, sustainable, and environmentally friendly
Geothermal wells release greenhouse gases trapped deep within the earth
? these emissions are much lower per energy unit than those of fossil fu
els
? has the potential to help mitigate global warming if widely deployed i
n place of fossil fuels
Drilling and exploration for deep resources is very expensive
In 2010, the United States led the world in geothermal electricity with 3,086 MW
of installed capacity
? Philippines is the second highest producer, with 1,904 MW of capacity
online, 27% of its total power generation
The thermal efficiency of geothermal electric plants is low, around 10-23%, beca
use geothermal fluids do not reach the high temperatures of steam from boilers
High capacity factor, demonstrated up to 96%, since not dependent on variable so
urce of energy like wind & solar
Manikaran in Himachal Pradesh in India
sustainable because the heat extraction is small compared with the Earth's heat
content
Geothermal electricity
dry steam power plants, flash steam power plants and binary cycle power plants
Dry steam power plants - directly use geothermal steam of 150C or greater to turn
turbines
? Simplest and oldest design
Flash steam power plants - most common type of plant in operation today
? pull deep, high-pressure hot water into lower-pressure tanks and use t
he resulting flashed steam to drive turbines
? they require fluid temperatures of at least 180C or more
Binary cycle power plants - most recent development
? can accept fluid temperatures as low as 57C
? thermal efficiency of this type plant is typically about 10-13%