According to the Department of Energy, geothermal energy is the heat from the Earth. It's clean and sustainable. Resources of geothermal energy range from the shallow ground to hot water and hot rock found a few miles beneath the Earth's surface, and down even deeper to the extremely high temperatures of molten rock called magma.
Enhanced Geothermal Systems, also known as EGS, are engineered reservoirs created to produce energy from geothermal resources that are otherwise not economical due to lack of water and/or permeability. EGS technology has the potential for accessing the Earth's vast resources of heat located at depth to help meet the energy needs of the United States. The Department of Energy estimates that the application of EGS technology is capable of providing at least 100,000 MW of electricity within 50 years.
The Geothermal Energy Association has tracked current use of geothermal energy, revealing the following: The geothermal power production in the U.S. today provides enough electricity to meet the electricity needs of about 2.4 million California households. Geothermal energy generated 14,885 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity in 2007, which accounted for 4% of renewable energy-based electricity consumption in the U.S. (including large hydropower).
The U.S. continues to produce more geothermal electricity than any other country, comprising approximately 30 percent of the world total. In California, the state with the largest amount of geothermal power on line, electricity from geothermal resources accounted for 5 percent of the state’s electricity generation in 2003 on a per kilowatt hour basis. Those states with projects currently under consideration or development are: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. Combined, these states have approximately 103 projects in development ranging from initial to advanced stages.
Quick Facts:
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Geothermal energy is generated at the Earth’s core, which is approximately 4,000 miles below the surface.
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Four states have geothermal plants:
California – 33 plants – produces almost 90% of the nation's geothermal electricity
Nevada - 14
Hawaii and Utah – 1
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Three types of geothermal power plants: Dry steam plants - use steam piped directly from a geothermal reservoir to turn the generator turbines. Flash steam plants - take high-pressure hot water from deep inside the earth and convert it to steam to drive the generator turbines. These are the most common. Binary power plants - transfers the heat from geothermal hot water to another liquid.
Sample Legislation on Geothermal Energy
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