News & Press
Published: May 8, 2008Updated: May 8, 2008
The Hot Renewable: Geothermal Energy
Renewable geothermal energy is currently used to generate electric power in 24 countries, for a total of 9,000 MWe.1 Geothermal energy is produced and utilized in many forms. The definition of geothermal energy, according to ASTM E 957, Standard Terminology Relating to Geothermal Energy, is quite broad: “the thermal energy contained in the rocks and fluids of the earth.”
This energy is produced in the form of naturally occurring hot water and steam found in hydrothermal reservoirs that drive electric power plants. The fluids are also used directly in industrial processes and to heat buildings. Geothermal energy can be extracted from deep man-made reservoirs using technology known as enhanced geothermal systems. Ubiquitous low-grade geothermal energy is used by geothermal heat pumps to heat and cool buildings (7,300 MWt in the United States alone2).
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