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Posts Tagged ‘geothermal energy’

With the advent of new technology and a range of government rebates and initiatives the vast resource of geothermal energy is becoming a prominent player in the alternative energy market.

Governments and consumers alike are increasingly looking toward geothermal energy as a clean and effective alternative energy source.

In what is looking like the new boom industry governments are investing heavily in the research and development of geothermal energy technology.

It is predicted that geothermal energy use will double in the next six years.

In the United States the Department of Energy unveiled a $28.4 Billion budget request for the 2011 year. The geothermal program will gain a 25per cent boost in funding.

Alongside this industry will gain a boost in an incentive that will allow developers to recoup 30 per cent of the cost of a new plant.

Geothermal Energy was first established in the early twentieth century as a means of direct heating and producing power.

It involves drilling a well into geothermal heat sources, from between 100 metres to ten kilometres beneath the surface of the earth. Hot steam or water is piped up from below and is used either for direct heating or transferred into electricity.

The technology has been rated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency as the most environmentally clean and effective source of alternative energy.

There are four main types of geothermal energy.

Hydrothermal resources are available 100 metres to 4.5 kilometres beneath the earth’s surface and are usually used for direct heating purposes.

The hydrothermal resource is captured by drilling into the earth to accessible water between 180 and 350 degrees Celsius and extracting the hot water or steam. Heat is transferred from below the surface into a heat pump that delivers the heat energy.

Geo-pressured resources exist between three to six kilometres beneath the surface where reservoirs of water and methane exist in the range of 90 to 200 degrees Celsius. The water is pumped to the surface to be used in direct heating or converted into electricity.

Hot dry rock is a virtually limitless resource and more accessible than any other geothermal resources. This extraction method often involves drilling two wells; water is pumped down the first and subsequently heated and returned to earth to be converted into energy. New technologies are being developed to take advantage of this wealth of energy.

Magma is the largest geothermal resource however is not easily accessible. Found at depths of between three and ten kilometres it has a temperature ranging from 700 to 1200 degrees Celsius and is the most powerful of geothermal resources although existing technology does not allow for the extraction of energy from magma.

With industry and government support now firmly invested in geothermal energy its uses in modern power production and development will continue to grow.

Energy Systems

Geothermal:  Cutting Your Energy Bill in Half!

Geothermal energy is an alternative energy source that can potentially reduce your energy bill in half!  The use of this alternative energy source, with low atmospheric emissions, has a beneficial effect on our environment by displacing more polluting fossil and nuclear fuels. As one of the cleaner energy forms is now available in commercial quantities. Rapidly growing energy needs around the world will make geothermal energy exceedingly important in several developing countries. In the production of geothermal energy, wells are used to bring hot water or steam to the surface from underground reservoirs. The thermal energy carried in the produced fluid can be used for direct heating in residential, agricultural, and industrial applications; or the thermal energy of higher temperature systems can be used to produce electricity.

Geothermal energy provides an enormous resource for low-temperature applications such as heating and cooling buildings, drying agricultural products, and process heating for industry. For example, geothermal heat pumps can be installed in almost all areas of the U.S. to provide greater efficiency in

heating and cooling of buildings and supplying hot water than either all electric systems or systems with air-source heat pumps. Only a modest part of the potential of geothermal energy has been developed because the service industry is small and the price of competing energy sources is low.

Geothermal energy is created by the heat of the earth. It generates reliable power and emits almost no greenhouse gases. This is how it works: When groundwater seeps below the earth’s surface near a dormant volcano, the water is heated by reservoirs of molten rock, usually at depths of up to 9,800 feet (3,000 m). Wells similar to those used to produce crude oil and natural gas are drilled to recover the water. Once captured, steam and hot water are separated. The steam is cleaned and sent to the power plant. The separated water is returned to the reservoir, helping to regenerate the steam source.

What Are the Benefits?

In addition to providing clean, renewable power, geothermal energy has significant environmental advantages. Geothermal emissions contain no chemical pollutants or waste — they consist mostly of water, which is re-injected underground.

Geothermal energy is a reliable source of power that reduces the need for imported fuels. It’s also renewable because it is based on a practically limitless resource — natural heat within the earth.

The electricity produced by our geothermal power operations is sold to local power grids, providing clean energy to fuel the growth of some of the most rapidly expanding economies in the world.

Most US southern companies looking to invest in geothermal to not only cut their energy bill in half, but to help the environment are looking to a company called, Energy Systems founded in 1982 by Tommy and Veronica Marshall.  This company has been servicing business and residential areas for over 27 years with this new alternative source.  They are truly on the cutting edge!

Contact Energy Systems:  850.456.5612

Web:  www.energysystemsac.com