Geothermal Energy – Heat from Earth

Our earth is abundant in natural renewable resources that are waiting to be tapped. One of them is Geothermal Energy.  Geo means Earth and thermal means heat. Geothermal energy is therefore, the energy obtained from the heat of the earth.

The heat tapped here is the heat produced from the radioactive decay of minerals and from the solar energy that is absorbed by the surface of the earth.

Hot springs are perhaps the oldest and the most natural form that is a derivative of geothermal energy, though this energy today is being tapped for production of electricity at a large scale in many countries such as United States of America, New Zealand, Iceland and Chile.

That geothermal energy is gaining grounds as a viable option among renewable sources of energy is evident as many international level co-operations are underway in this regard. By the end of next month, Indonesian Capital Bali will be the host to the fourth ‘World Geothermal Congress’ for a period of five days. The event is conducted every five years by International Geothermal Association or IGA.

As per news reports, the theme for the Congress this year is “Geothermal: The Energy to Change the World”. About 2500 participants from 80 countries are expected to be in Bali between April 25 and April 30 to attend this Congress.

The United States of America, a world leader in geothermal electricity generation, has about 29 geothermal power plants that have a capacity of powering 1.2 million homes. Earlier this month, the Obama Government’s Energy Department expresses its intentions to set aside a fund of $84 million for geothermal energy projects. This is in a bid to get about 25 per cent of electricity in United States of America from renewable sources by 2025.

India and Iceland, as per a report by The Hindu, have agreed to boost the development of this energy. They also plan to explore possibilities to establish the facilities to set up the geothermal demonstration power plants.

Some of the potential fields in India where geothermal energy can be tapped are Puga in Jammu and Kashmir, Tattapani in Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra and Gujarat.

Iceland comes under the top sic countries that are utilizing geothermal energy and has plants with capacity of producing about 575 MW. Eighty-seven per cent of hot water and heating requirements of this country’s housing are met by the geothermal heat itself.

Many Indian companies are venturing into this field. For instance, as per a report by Reuters, Tata Power Co Ltd of India is one of the firms that have bid for geothermal power project in Bali. Cleary, there is a potential market for this energy.

The Kenya government too, as per news reports, is planning to get additional power from geothermal energy.

Production of electricity from Geothermal Energy is however, not smooth process. The production is very expensive which makes the electricity produced expensive and success is not a guarantee always. There are limitations as to where the geothermal energies can be tapped from. Until recently, the plants are located around the tectonic plates.

There are arguments against geothermal energy saying it is not a completely green fuel as while trapping the heat from earth, there is a certain amount of release of greenhouse gasses too. However, that’s nothing compared to that released when the fossil fuels are burnt. Theoretically, there are plants that can absorb these gases at these sites and inject them back to earth, which also boosts production.

There are reports that say pumping cold water into the hot rocks to heat as per advanced technologies to boost production have increased the chances of earthquakes. There is no suck risk with conventional method of electricity generation though.

The time that the plant takes to start functioning too is not very ideal.

Nevertheless, Geothermal Energy seems to be the next big thing in Renewable Energy Sector and while there are some risks, trapping it promises a much better world than a fossil fuel.