News about Solar, Wind and alternative green power technologies

The world is slowly going towards green technology. It appears that for some it seems much easier to go green than for others. A demarcating example is Klamath Falls. In the small city of Oregon geothermal energy has been used since the early 90s to heat homes and businesses. In that time, it was not really known that it was green technology. It simply appeared to make sense.

The use of geothermal technology has expanded to various countries thereafter. In 2005, approximately 24 countries used geothermal energy to produce a total of 56,786 GWh. This figure amounted only to a diminutive 3 percent of the worldwide demand for electricity at that time.

In reality, geothermal energy has been present since very long. It isn’t because it is new that it is representing only a small portion of world supply of energy. For instance, in the Lisan Mountains of China the hot spring of water has been used by people to bathe since Qin Dynasty in the third century.

Geothermal Energy and Technology Advancements

Typically, geothermal energy was harnessed through hot water that bursts to the surface after being heated amidst hot rocks beneath the surface. New enhanced geothermal systems are using a much more advanced system. Cold water is injected down into the hot rocks found beneath the surface of the earth. The cold water travels down to be heated by the rocks and will eventually thereafter come out from a second hole. The water that comes out is converted into electricity either through binary power plant systems or by a steam turbine.

Calculating Risk and Cost

The enhanced geothermal systems might be dangerous. Scientific research is saying that drilling and pumping high-pressurized water into the rocks beneath the surface can provoke seismic activities. In Switzerland more precisely in Basel a geothermal plant was shut down after an earthquake of a magnitude of 3.4 was experienced.

The cost and risk of geothermal energy are thus very high. The nominal cost of drilling can be around $10 million while there is a potential rate of failure that is estimated to be around 20 percent. This is why geothermal energy is still a small industry.

For geothermal energy to take a stand in the future, the real cost has to be evaluated. The cost involved in the investment and risk of seismic activities that can be a result for new enhanced geothermal systems. For this industry to arise steadily all the benefits must be weighed against the cost of the using this renewable source of energy. Geothermal Energy must become a solution that is not only green but also cost effective and safe.

Source : The Sustainable Engineering Section