What is geothermal energy? How can electricity be generated using geothermal energy?

-

What is geothermal energy? How can electricity be generated using geothermal energy?



Geothermal energy is natural heat from the interior of the Earth that is converted to heat buildings and generate electricity. Used in 21 countries; total worldwide production is about 9,000 MW; supplies less than 0.15% of the total energy supply
In some areas, heat flow is sufficiently high to be useful for producing energy. for the most part, areas with high heat flow are associated with plate tectonic boundaries. Oceanic ridge systems (divergent plate boundaries) and areas where mountains are being uplifted and volcanic island arcs are forming (convergent plate boundaries) are areas where this natural heat flow is anomalously high -> ex: Western U.S.

Several types of hot geothermal systems (more than 80 degrees celsius) are said to be resource bases larger than that of fossil fuels and nuclear energy combined.

Lower temperature geothermal sources that cannot be used to produce electricity can be used for space heating of buildings, heating swimming pools, or heating oil to assist crop production in greenhouses -> used in iceland.

Common system for energy development is hydrothermal convection, characterized by the circulation of steam/hot water that transfers heat from depths to the surface.

ex: Geysers Geothermal Field north of San Francisco - about 1,000 MW of electrical energy is produced. they are the largest geothermal power operation in the world. At the Geysers, the hot water is maintained in part by injecting treated wastewater from urban areas into hot rocks. The heated wastewater vaporizes and is extracted from geothermal production wells to produce electricity (helps sustain the production of electricity)

ex: Yellowstone National Park - has many hot springs and geysers, however, federal legislation has passed to protect them.

Groundwater is a source of geothermal energy. It is geothermal because the normal internal heat flow from Earth keeps the temperature of the groundwater at about 13 degrees celsius. It can be used for heating in the winter and cooling in the summer.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Discuss the seven characteristics of useful information.

-
Discuss the seven characteristics of useful information. Answer: The seven characteristics of useful information are: relevant, reliable, complete, timely, understandable, verifiable and accessible. These characteristics are qualities that information should possess to be useful in a business environment. Briefly stated, in order for information to be useful it must be: 1) relevant, meaning that it reduces uncertainty and adds to the decision-making process; 2) reliable information is information that is free from error, and is accurate in its nature; 3) complete information is information that does not omit any important data, facts, or aspects about events or activities; 4) information is timely when it is fully available to enable the decision-making process to proceed; 5) understandable information must be both in an intelligible and useful format; 6) information is considered verifiable if two people, acting independently of each other, produce the same inform
Read more

Why have accounting software packages been designed with separate transaction modules?

-
Why have accounting software packages been designed with separate transaction modules? Answer: : Since every organization does not necessarily use all of the transaction cycles in its operations, it is to the advantage of the organization to be able to "pick and choose" from among various software modules that track and record different transaction cycles. For example, a law firm would have no need to implement a production cycle module. Also, the nature of a transaction cycle varies across the broad spectrum of business organizations. Again, a law firm would have a revenue cycle, but it would not involve the purchase, receipt, and payment for products or merchandise; likewise a retail store chain may not sell any consulting services to its customers.
Read more

A laboratory assistant prepared solution of 0.8 M, 0.6 M, 0.4 M, and 0.2 M sucrose, but forgot to label them. After realizing the error, the assistant randomly labeled the flasks containing these four unknown solutions as flask A, flask B, flask C, and flask D.

-
A laboratory assistant prepared solution of 0.8 M, 0.6 M, 0.4 M, and 0.2 M sucrose, but forgot to label them. After realizing the error, the assistant randomly labeled the flasks containing these four unknown solutions as flask A, flask B, flask C, and flask D. Design an experiment, based on the principles of diffusion and osmosis, that the assistant could use to determine which of the flasks contains each of the four unknown solutions. Include in your answer (a) a description of how you would set up and perform the experiment: (b) the results you would expect from your experiments: and (c) an explanation of those results based on the principles involved. (Be sure to clearly state the principles addressed in your discussion.)
Read more