Geothermal Heating-energy source from earth
While we are digging a big hole straight down into the Earth, we would notice the temperature getting warmer when it goes deeper. That's because the inside of the Earth is full of heat. This heat is called geothermal energy.These underground reservoirs of steam and hot water can be tapped to generate electricity or to heat and cool buildings directly.
People can capture geothermal energy through:
Geothermal power plants, which use heat from deep inside the Earth to generate steam to make electricity.
How it works
Hot water is pumped from deep underground through a well under high pressure.
When the water reaches the surface, the pressure is dropped, which causes the water to turn into steam.
The steam spins a turbine, which is connected to a generator that produces electricity.
The steam cools off in a cooling tower and condenses back to water.
The cooled water is pumped back into the Earth to begin the process again.
Geothermal heat pumps, which tap into heat close to the Earth's surface to heat water or provide heat for buildings.
Advantages
1. It can be extracted without burning a fossil fuel such as coal, gas, or oil.
2. Geothermal fields produce only about one-sixth of the carbon dioxide that a relatively clean natural-gas-fueled power plant produces.
3. Compared to solar and wind energy, geothermal energy is always available, 365 days a year.
