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As the global demand for clean, reliable, renewable energy increases, geothermal energy has become an attractive solution. This is true not only in the United States, but at numerous locations around the world. One area of increased emphasis is Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) which offers the possibility of widely expanding the geographic range of geothermal power plant locations.

Electricity generated from geothermal energy (geothermal power) offers a number of advantages:
1. Reliability
2. Renewability
3. Combustion-free
4. Very low emissions
5. Reduction in global warming
6. Domestic economic boon
7. Minimal land impact
8. Water conservation
9. Flexible plant growth

However, there are some disadvantages to the production of electricity from geothermal power sources:
1. Limited geographic site locations
2. High start-up cost
3. Land subsidence may occur
4. Poor management can exhaust sites

We show potential of geothermal power in the world below.

If heat recovered by ground source heat pumps is included, the non-electric generating capacity of geothermal power (geothermal energy) is estimated at more than 100 GW (gigawatts of thermal power). This geothermal power is used commercially in over 70 countries.

During 2005, contracts of utilizing geothermal energy were placed for an additional 0.5 GW (gigawatts) of capacity in the United States, while there were also plants, which are under construction in 11 other countries.

Estimates of exploitable worldwide geothermal energy resources vary considerably. According to a study of 1999, it was thought that this might amount to between 65 and 138 GW of electrical generation capacity 'using enhanced technology'.

As one kind of alternative energy, geothermal power has many advantages such as requires no fuel, and is therefore virtually emissions free and insusceptible to fluctuations in fuel cost. Read this articles for more advantages and details of geothermal power. There are a few disadvantages of geothermal power.

From the perspective of engineering, the geothermal fluid is corrosive and, worse, is at a low temperature, compared to steam from boilers. And by the laws of thermodynamics this low temperature of the geothermal fluid limits the efficiency of heat engines in extracting useful energy during the generation of electricity. Much of the heat energy is lost, unless there is also a local use for low-temperature heat, such as greenhouses, timber mills, and district heating.

Advantages of Geothermal power

Geothermal power requires no fuel, and is therefore virtually emissions free and insusceptible to fluctuations in fuel cost.

And because the geothermal power station doesn't rely on transient sources of energy, unlike, for example, wind turbines or solar panels, its capacity factor can be quite large; almost up to 90% in practice.

Geothermal power (geothermal energy) is considered to be sustainable because the heat extraction is small compared to the size of the heat reservoir.

Geothermal has minimal land use requirements.

What's geothermal power (geothermal energy)? From geothermal, comes from the Greek roots geo, meaning earth. And thermos, meaning heat. That's the meaning of geothermal power. Geothermal power is energy generated from heat stored in our earth, or the collection of absorbed heat derived from underground.

The Philippines and Iceland are the only countries to generate a significant percentage of their electricity from geothermal power sources; in both countries 15-20% of power comes from geothermal plants.