You are standing on top of a potential Geothermal Energy production hub no matter where you are on the planet. This is the argument at the heart of the campaign to increase Geothermal Energy, a renewable and carbon-neutral source of energy generation that uses heat created naturally underneath the ground to generate turbine-turning steam or to pump directly into homes and businesses.
The average “geothermal gradient” is about 30 degrees Celsius per kilometer, indicating that the temperature of the surroundings increases by around 30 degrees for every kilometer deeper you delve into the Earth. A geothermal power plant will drill one or two miles underneath the Earth’s surface to recover steam or hot water, which will then be brought to the surface and converted into energy.
Most geothermal power plants are built in regions where the Earth’s surface is substantially hotter, such as near hot springs, geysers, or volcanic activity. Iceland, for example, receives a whopping 66 percent of its energy from geothermal sources. Yes, having access to hot water and steam underneath the Earth’s surface makes Geothermal Energy much more economically and logistically feasible. But what if it didn’t make a difference?
Many scientists and entrepreneurs are striving to solve this issue, and one answer that some of them have come up with is natural gas. Some forward-thinking firms have developed closed-loop geothermal systems that drill into the ground, allowing the Earth’s naturally radiating warmth to heat a liquid, forming vapor. Hence, it provides rotational energy and then enabling the vaporized substance to condense and return to liquid. Rinse, wash, and repeat.
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