Geothermal Power Technology: Advantages and Disadvantages
Geothermal energy (geothermal power) is a vast, renewable, clean, green, low carbon energy source that can be converted to electricity, and used to condition building environments. Improved technologies have the potential to access vast untapped sources of geothermal energy (geothermal power), which our experts estimate contain 50,000 times the energy of all oil and gas resources in our world.
The geothermal energy (geothermal power) technology can also help to address the critical issues of global warming, pollution and energy independence, and to provide a secure, safe, domestic source of energy.
Current usage of geothermal energy technologies is limited. As of 2008, geothermal energy (geothermal power) supplies less than 1% of the world’s energy. For example, less than half of 1% of United States electrical power is provided utilizing geothermal sources. But Iceland derives over a quarter of its electrical output from geothermal sources. The Philippines are nearing 25%. Indonesia, Italy, Mexico and New Zealand all have substantial geothermal power production programs.
However, increased development of geothermal technology will improve its acceptance and use by governments, other organizations and electrical utilities worldwide. Current usage in our life of geothermal technologies is limited. For instance, out of the two million heat pumps installed in the US each year, just over 2% are geothermal energy. However, increased development of geothermal technology will improve its acceptance and use by governments, other organizations, developers and homeowners.
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
Tax incentives, subsidies and government policy play a large role in the speed with which geothermal energy technology is developed and implemented.
