Is it
safe for the environment?
According
to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), geothermal
heat pumps are the most energy-efficient, environmentally clean, and
cost-effective systems for temperature control. There are only two non
solar forms of renewable energy that have sufficient potential for
large-scale production for electricity and energy at this time
(geothermal and tidal). Although, most homes
still use traditional furnaces and air conditioners, geothermal heat
pumps are becoming more popular. In recent years, the U.S. Department
of Energy along with the EPA have partnered with industry to promote
the use of geothermal heat pumps.
Geothermal power plants do not burn fuels to
generate electricity as fossil fuel plants do. Geothermal power plants
release less than one to four percent of the amount of carbon dioxide
(C02) emitted by coal plants. Emissions of sulfur compounds from motor
vehicles and fossil fuel plants are also major contributors to acid
rain. Geothermal power plants, on the other hand, emit only about one
to three percent of the sulfur compounds that coal and oil-fired power
plants do. Well-designed binary cycle power plants have no emissions at
all.
Geothermal power plants are compatible with many environments. They
have been built in deserts, in the middle of crops, and in mountain
forests.
Geothermal development is often allowed on federal lands because it
does not significantly harm the environment. Before permission is
granted however, studies must be made to determine what effect a plant
may have on the environment. Geothermal features in national parks,
such as the geysers and rigmaroles in Yellowstone and Lassen National
Parks, are protected by law, so geothermal energy is not tapped in
these areas.
Although this resource is considered renewable,
experience, at geysers particularly, show that at any given sight the
resource is finite. Recently Geysers in California that have been in
use for the past two decades are displaying steam pressure dropping at
a level of 11% per year. This shows that thermal energy from the ground
can be withdrawn at a faster rate than it is being replenished.
However, the geothermal reservoirs are diverse in
nature, distributed widely, and can adapt to many applications. There
is an estimated 1,500,000 Quadrillion British thermal units (QBtus) in
geothermal reservoirs around the world, which is an astonishing amount.
Successful and renewable technecks are now being applied to the
extraction of thermal energy resources. It is very likely that this
resource will continue to be utilized and developed upon in the future.
As fossil fuels are dismissed or diminished, new healthier forms of
energy are developed. The energy-efficient, clean, cost-effective
resource, is not the entire solution to the present energy crisis,
because though it is capable in many environments, it is not well
enough distributed, however, geothermal energy has the capability to be
a great part of the solutions.
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