Geothermal energy is an incredibly green system of retrieving energy that the country of Iceland has been able to harness and use due to its geographical location on earth. Before we get into that, lets talk about what geothermal energy is. Geothermal energy is thermal energy generated and stored in the Earth. One is able to harness the energy through the inner layers of the earth that are warmer and you can extract this energy and use it for electricity or even heat energy. An example of how to harness the energy in the earth is through a process of drilling known as deep wells. Deep wells, a mile or more deep, can tap reservoirs of steam or very hot water that can be used to drive turbines which power electricity generators. There are 3 types of geothermal power plants in use today, and they are: Dry Steam Plants which use geothermal steam directly. Thermal energy is what we talked about in the last blog. A quick recap on thermal energy, is the energy that determines the temperature of matter.
This is an image of Iceland and how the natural heat from under the earths crust is rising to the surface in the form of stream.
During the course of the 20th century, Iceland went from what was one of Europe’s poorest countries, dependent upon peat and imported coal for its energy, to a country with a high standard of living where practically all stationary energy is derived from renewable resources. In 2014, roughly 85% of primary energy use in Iceland came from renewable resources. There of 66% was from geothermal. Generating electricity with geothermal energy has increased significantly in recent years. As a result of a rapid expansion in Iceland’s energy intensive industry, the demand for electricity has increased considerably.(Orkugardur).
Geothermal systems are home heating and cooling systems that gather heat from the earth. Geothermal heat pumps (GHPs) use the relatively constant temperature of sub-surface soil as the exchange medium. Beneath the Earth’s crust, there is a layer of hot, molten rock called magma. Heat is continually produced there, mostly from the decay of naturally radioactive materials, such as uranium and potassium. The amount of heat within the first 33,000 feet (or 10,000 meters) of the Earth’s surface contains 50,000 times more energy than all the oil and natural gas resources in the world combined.
Iceland was able to take this echo friendly step due to the location of the island country. The entire united states couldn’t run on just the geothermal energy source because of our geographic energy. This is why the United States and other countries around the world are working hard to find other resources such as wind energy, nuclear energy, hydroelectric energy and many more. Iceland is truly an inspiration to the rest of the world and a motivation to constantly try to improve how we power our planet.
“Harnessing Geothermal Energy.” Geothermal Energy. UF, n.d. Web. 04 Mar. 2016.
“Geothermal | National Energy Authority of Iceland.” Geothermal | National Energy Authority of Iceland. Orkugardur, n.d. Web. 04 Mar. 2016.
“Geothermal Heating and Cooling Systems.” – InterNACHI. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2016.
Very interesting statistic on the amount of potential energy in the earth’s crust. It puts into perspective just how profitable geothermal energy can be.