7B+Geothermal+Power+2

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=__ Geothermal Energy __= By: Jack, and Ching Ching

[|Geothermal energy] is the alternative energy for the future and it is one of the best energy to replace Fossil Fuel. The name Geothermal energy means Earth heat. Geothermal energy might be one of the solutions to help the World.

=[|How does it work?]=



Geothermal energy's core resource is the magma from the Earth's crust. There are three methods of [|generating electricity]from the magma. The first step to generate geothermal energy is when cool water from the power plant is released to the Earth through a long hole that can reach up to 10 km. When the water touches the magma, the magma heats up by releasing steam. The steam from the magma would be carried through another pipe to the power plant. Steam is carried to the turbines which makes the turbine spin. As the turbine spins it changes the heat energy to kinetic energy, the electricity is sometimes stored but most of the time the electricity is carried through substations or power lines. A disadvantage about this is that the electricity cannot __travel__ very far since the power has limited amount of energy.

= = = How widespread is it? =

Geothermal energy is not very famous in the [|world] right __now__. Only 0.416% of the world [|uses geothermal energy]. About 21 countries uses Geothermal energy. A total of five continents have geothermal plants excluding South America and Antarctica. Geothermal energy can be found in Africa. Kenya has many plants and distribute its power to its neighboring countries such as Ethiopia, Djibouti, Tanzania, Eritrea, and Uganda. Many businessmen are planning to invest many other geothermal power plants in Rwanda and Ethiopia.

== = = = How efficient is it? = A geothermal plant sends out 35 to 2,000 gigawatt and a new plant can produce 15,000 MW within ten years. It is a hard job to build and create a plant. You will need a lot of drilling, lots of steal cost, metal cost, and the cost of labor force. The cost of a Geothermal plant depends on its size. A small plant can cost around $300-$5000, a medium sized plant can cost around $10-$20 million and a large Geothermal plant can cost around $50 million. It costs $3,4000 to install per KW. = =

= = = Advantages and Disadvantages =

[[image:http://www.cwu.edu/%7Eccc/images/thumbs_up.jpg width="70" height="58"]] A dvantages :
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 * Does not take up land to build power plants
 * cleaner
 * efficient and renewable
 * save up 80% costs over fossil fuel
 * can get directly to the house
 * almost limitless
 * sustainable
 * requires no fuel
 * use for many causes
 * save money
 * helps many animals in its habitat (fish, alligators)

 Disadvantages : = What is the role of Geothermal energy in the future? = The idea of Geothermal energy is a bright idea for the [|future]. Although the use of Geothermal energy is not very popular right now, there is a very high chance of the popularity rising. The use of Geothermal energy has a high chance of rising because in the future more scientists and skilled people will find more hotspots in the world that is consumable to create Geothermal energy. Also Geothermal energy is one of the energies that does the least damage to the Earth. Right now, not many people have the skill of spotting Geothermal locations or the skills of creating machines that will make Geothermal energy more efficient. The obvious point is that technology will improve greatly in the next 5 to 10 years which means that the machines and generators to make this energy popular and efficient will be created and used.
 * high installation costs
 * can run out of steam
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">some sites may release dangerous gas
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">practical only in area near hot spots
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">produces waste water; which damages soi
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">can release green house gases
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">can lead to earthquake
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">not sustainable to all buildings

= = =Bibliography=

Websites
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__http://www.webmutations.com/energy/reports/present/repgeo.html__] <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"> [|__http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/ene_geo_pow_use-energy-geothermal-power-use__] <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__http://www.nationmaster.com/red/pie/ene_geo_pow_use-energy-geothermal-power-use__] <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"> [|__http://www.conserve-energy-future.com/Advantages_Disadvantages_GeothermalEnergy.php__] <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__http://curiosity.discovery.com/question/geothermal-energy-not-used-widely__] <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"> [|__http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Geothermal-Energy/Rwanda-Seeks-1-Billion-Geothermal-Energy-Investment.html__] <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"> [|__http://jasonoleinik.hubpages.com/hub/Everything-you-need-to-know-about-geothermal-energy__] [|__http://energyinformative.org/geothermal-energy-pros-and-cons/__] <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__http://www1.eere.energy.gov/geothermal/pdfs/future_geo_energy.pdf__] <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__http://www.conserve-energy-future.com/Advantages_Disadvantages_GeothermalEnergy.php__] <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__http://www.cangea.ca/what-is-geothermal/__] <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"> [|__http://library.thinkquest.org/06aug/02365/geothermal.html__] <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"> [|__http://exergy.se/goran/cng/alten/proj/98/geotermal/geo.htm#_Toc492881535__] <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Geothermal_power__] <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__http://geothermal.marin.org/geopresentation/sld087.htm__]

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[] [] [] [] [] [] http://academic.evergreen.edu/g/grossmaz/geowells.jpeg http://americandreamgeothermal.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/geothermal-energy-companies2.jpg

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