Geothermal Energy

The term geothermal is derived from Greek, wherein geo refers to earth and thermal stands for heat. Geothermal power is a type of energy produced by heat stored under the surface of earth or the absorbed heat collected in the ocean and atmosphere.

Prince Piero Ginori Conti is known to have analyzed the first geothermal generator on 4 July 1904 at the Larderello dry steam field in Italy. The geysers, a geothermal field based in California the largest group of geothermal power plants existing in the world. By the year 2007, geothermal power is known to supply almost 1 percent of the world’s energy.

Power plants can be mainly categorized into three different parts namely; dry steam, binary and flash. These are utilized towards generation of electricity from geothermal energy.

The electricity generated depends on depth, temperature and quality of steam and water in the area. In almost all cases, the condensed steam as well as remaining geothermal fluid is injected back into the ground so as to obtain more amount of heat. In certain places, the natural water supply contributing to production of steam from the hot magma deposits underground is exploited and the processed waste water thereafter is injected to replenish the supply. Most geothermal fields possess more amount of fluid recharge as compared to heat. This may result in cooling of the resource due to re-injection unless it is carefully managed.

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