RENEWABLE SOURCE OF ENERGY

GEOTHERMAL ENERGY

THEORY

Geothermal Energy
Geothermal energy is the heat from the Earth. It's clean and sustainable. Resources of geothermal
energy range from the shallow ground to hot water and hot rock found a few miles beneath the Earth's
surface, and down even deeper to the extremely high temperatures of molten rock called magma.
As you go deeper and deeper inside the Earth the temperature increases at a rate of approximately 25C
per kilometre.
However in some parts of the crust, like in the Cooper Basin in South Australia, you can get geothermal
gradients at up to double that, so a temperature of 200C can be reached in about four kilometres.
There are two different ways we can use this energy, either to produce electricity or to directly heat
things, like buildings or large swimming pools.
Direct heating occurs when water is pumped down a drill hole a few hundred metres to a couple of
kilometres down. Once the water is bought to the surface it's 20 to 30 degrees warmer.
The other way to use geothermal energy is to produce electricity which can then be put into the
electricity grid. To do this, water needs to be heated to much higher temperatures, typically around
200C and, just like conventional power stations, steam from this hot, pressurised water is used to
generate electricity.

Geothermal Energy Production

Most power plants need steam to generate electricity. The steam rotates a turbine that activates a
generator, which produces electricity. Many power plants still use fossil fuels to boil water for steam.
Geothermal power plants, however, use steam produced from reservoirs of hot water found a couple of
miles or more below the Earth's surface. There are three types of geothermal power plants: dry steam,
flash steam, and binary cycle.
1. Dry steam power plants draw from underground resources of steam. The steam is piped directly
from underground wells to the power plant, where it is directed into a turbine/generator unit.
2. Flash steam power plants are the most common. They use geothermal reservoirs of water with
temperatures greater than 360F (182C). This very hot water flows up through wells in the
ground under its own pressure. As it flows upward, the pressure decreases and some of the hot
water boils into steam. The steam is then separated from the water and used to power a
turbine/generator. Any leftover water and condensed steam are injected back into the
reservoir, making this a sustainable resource.
3. Binary cycle power plants operate on water at lower temperatures of about 225-360F (107182C). These plants use the heat from the hot water to boil a working fluid, usually an organic
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RENEWABLE SOURCE OF ENERGY

GEOTHERMAL ENERGY

THEORY

compound with a low boiling point. The working fluid is vaporized in a heat exchanger and used
to turn a turbine. The water is then injected back into the ground to be reheated. The water and
the working fluid are kept separated during the whole process, so there are little or no air
emissions.