Geothermal electricity is created by harnessing the power of the earth’s internal heat to generate electricity. Geothermal energy is widely used around the world, and many consider it to be one of the most environmentally friendly and sustainable forms of electricity available. Although not currently feasible in all places, many people believe that in areas where geothermal electricity can be generated, it could replace the majority of energy currently produced by fossil fuels and provide an alternative to other alternative energy sources.
There are a few renewable energy sources that are currently attracting a lot of attention as the world looks for a replacement for the fossil fuels that powered the Industrial Revolution and the modern era’s growth. Solar power, hydropower, biofuels, wind power, and tidal power are just a few examples. Solar panels are quite toxic to make and can only be used where there is plenty of sun energy, hydro power can cause serious problems with rivers, bio fuels may deprive the world of much-needed food, wind power can disrupt migratory bird migration routes, and tidal power may harm aquatic ecosystems. While geothermal electricity isn’t perfect, many people believe it provides the most benefits with the fewest drawbacks.
Geothermal electricity taps into a virtually limitless reservoir of heat rising from the earth’s core. Geothermal wells are built to tap into that source, and while they may need to recover their heat for a while, they can do so indefinitely as long as our power consumption stays within a few orders of magnitude of what it is now. Since the early and mid-twentieth centuries, a number of fields have been continuously generating geothermal electricity, providing real-world evidence that the energy source can last for a long time.
Geothermal electricity is not only environmentally friendly, but it also uses very little land to generate power. A geothermal power plant requires only 1 to 8 acres to generate a Megawatt of energy, whereas a coal power plant requires around 20 acres and a nuclear power plant requires between 5 and 10 acres to generate a Megawatt. Geothermal power plants are also incredibly scalable, so a small remote site can get geothermal electricity from a tiny generator, while a metropolis can get geothermal electricity from a massive plant.
Total global energy consumption is around 16 Terawatts, with fossil fuels accounting for about 85% of that. Geothermal power currently generates around 10 Gigawatts of electricity, but it is distributed differently around the world. Many countries are just starting to use geothermal energy to generate electricity or heat, but those that have been doing so for a while have found that geothermal energy can meet a large portion of their energy needs. Iceland, for example, uses geothermal energy to meet more than a quarter of its total electricity demand, and there are plans to significantly increase this number in the coming years, with the ultimate goal of completely eliminating the use of fossil fuels in the country.