The Benefits Of Geothermal Energy

Geothermal energy which is heat energy can be found in almost everywhere on Earth. It is a renewable energy derived from heat deep in the Earth’s crust. The word “geothermal” comes from Greek words meaning “Earth” (geo) and heat (thermal), it means using the nature heat produced inside the Earth. (Davor Habjanec,2008)The use of geothermal energy occurred more than 10,000 years ago with the settlement of Paleo-Indians in hot springs. The technology of geothermal energy improved each year. In 1904, the first geothermal power plant was built in Larderello, Italy. Although geothermal energy's installation is expensive, it is an efficient and reliable energy resource which does not cause significant pollution, it is renewable, and we can predict

Geothermal reservoirs come from natural resources and are naturally replenished. In other words, geothermal energy is a resource that can sustain its own consumption rate, unlike conventional energy sources such as coal and oil; they are not sustainable. According to scientists, the energy in our geothermal reservoirs will literally last billions of years. The geothermal energy source is the unlimited amount of heat generated by the Earth’s core. Earth’s heat is being constantly replenished. The Earth’s heat mostly originates from the radioactive decay of elements such as uranium. This make the geothermal energy more useful than oil and coal energy. Both coal and oil are nonrenewable and contain the most CO2, which is considered the largest contributor of global warming. Even though there are some limitations for geothermal energy, there are a lot more advantages for geothermal energy than its disadvantages which is high

Comparing to solar and wind power energy’s power output which is unpredictable, geothermal energy is excellent for meeting the base load energy demand. The actual power output is very close to total installed capacity. For instance, in 2005, the global average power output was 73% of total installed capacity, but the geothermal power plant can actually produce 96% of power. Geothermal energy can produce approximately 68 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity. The amount of heat of Earth’s surface contains 50,000 times more energy than all the oil and natural gas resources in the world. Unlike wind power, geothermal energy can be relied on as it provides constant power. People choose geothermal energy for reasons. Every type of power has their own pros and cons, even though geothermal energy is expensive and have some other disadvantages, it is efficient and reliable. (example