Producing Energy From Geothermal Resources

Geothermal energy is a platform tapping the inherentreservoirs to power turbines. These turbines spin
energy found within the Earth. Her is an overview ofproducing electricity which can then be used to power
how the process works from a practical perspective.industries or even residential areas. The first
Producing Energy From Geothermal Resourcesgeothermically engineered power plant was built in Italy
There are several types of energy used in the worldin 1904.
that are considered eco-friendly. These energy typesThese days, roughly 7000 megawatts of electricity is
include solar, which harnesses the power of the sun,produced by geothermal power plants per year.
and hydroelectric, which uses the power of water toGeothermal power plants are located in 21 countries
generate electricity. One often neglected ecologicallythroughout the world. In the United States alone,
sound energy source that should be grouped with theenough geothermal power is generated per year to be
others is geothermal energy. Geothermal energythe equivalent to the burning of 60 million barrels of oil,
involves using the Earth's own heat to create energyto wit, geothermal energy is a major source of power.
and warmth to be used by people.Geothermal energy has been used by cultures
Geothermal energy is so named because it derivesthroughout history for thousands of years. The
from the Greek words for "earth heat", "geo" andprocess used to harness geothermal energy has
"therme". Extreme amounts of heat are generated inalways been relatively simple compared to that of
the Earth's core, which reaches temperatures of up toother energy processes, and the components used
9,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The Earth's core thenare familiar to everyone. The concept of using super
transfers heat to the mantle, a crust of rockhot water from the Earth's magma layers may seem
surrounding the core. This rock liquefies due to thehigh tech, but once you have tapped into this resource,
intense heat becoming magma (molten rock). In thisit is easy to maintain and use as a continual power
magma layer, water collects in columns or reserves.source.
This trapped water, which can be heated toThe best analogy for geothermal energy production is
temperatures of about 700 degrees Fahrenheit, isanother alternative energy source. It works in the
known as a geothermal reservoir. When engineerssame way as hydropower. Water is used to spin
want to use geothermal energy, they "tap" in to thisturbines which produce electricity. In the case of
geothermal water and use the resulting hot water andgeothermal energy, however, the water comes from
steam for various purposes.the internal chambers of the Earth in, most often, the
Geothermal energy plants work by using the steamform of steam.
resulting from tapping into the geothermal water