History of Geothermal Energy Use Geothermal Energy can provide a baseload electric power and have a major impact on the US without having any major environmental impacts. It can securely protect the country against fluctuations of the fuel prices in the long term. First human use of geothermal resources started 10000 years ago according to the archeological evidences. Paleo-Indians took the advantage of the hot springs for the purpose of cooking, heating, and cleansing. As the need for energy increased over the years, the attempts to produce energy from geothermal resources increased. In 1904, the first geothermal power plant was invented in Larderello dry steam field by Piero Ignore Conti (GTP, 2010). In 1922, the first geothermal power plant …show more content…
It is expected to reach about 18.4 GW by 2021. The market could reach 32 GW by 2030s if the countries follow their geothermal development targets. By the end of 2015, U.S. had 3.7 GW of installed capacity and 2.7 GW of net capacity of geothermal energy. In total, the U.S. market has about 1250 MW of geothermal power under development. (GEA, …show more content…
(Source: https://www.our-energy.com/geothermal_energy.html) Current challenges faced Geothermal power could be made sustainable only if reservoirs are properly managed. The reservoirs might cool down or depleted over time making the energy extraction impossible. The only non-depletable way to obtain geothermal energy is magma but that technology has not been fully developed yet. However, it is worth to invest in this kind of technology because magma will be around as much as the planet exits. Until recently, geothermal energy is exploited where the resources have naturally occurring heat, water and sufficient rock permeability to allow energy extraction. However, according to the studies, most of the geothermal energy lies in dry and impermeable rock. When there is not sufficient pores and cracks for economic flow rates, the permeability of the reservoir can be improved by pumping high-pressurized cold water down through an injection well into the rocks. Enhanced Geothermal Systems Technology Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) have great potential to vividly increase the use of geothermal energy both in United States and in other parts of the world. Below, I will give the detailed steps of how EGS