The case for geothermal energy.....

[whistle]

...can the world sources be exploited to releave the dependence on fossil fuels? It seems to me it can totally replace such fuels and fill that need.

....see this great site and world map.

<snip>

GEOTHERMAL ENERGY - Worldwide

Glossary of Map Page Terms

ENERGY UNITS

GWh - gigawatt hour thermal. A unit of heat energy for non-electrical uses equal to 1000 megawatt hours (MWh).

A GWh can heat 860 thousand tons of water one degree centigrade (or bring about 9 million quarts of freezing water to a boil).

MWe - megawatt electrical. A unit of electrical power equal to 1000 kilowatts (kWe) - enough (in the U.S) for about 1000 people.


<more>
<link> http://geothermal.marin.org/geomap_1.html

[RC]

1. The basic problem...

Dear Prof. Mole,

If geothermal is so great, why don't we use it to make all our electricity?

From,
Louis A.

Dear Louis,

We would if we could. Making electricity needs high temperature geothermal near the surface to be economical with present day technology. So far, we only find high temperature geothermal in a few places. Some other countries with fewer people and more volcanoes could get all their electricity from geothermal resources.

Arthur

http://geothermal.marin.org/quesart.html

[whistle]

2. The problem is the opprtunity...

...similar brains who brought us technical knowledge of how to drill for oil in impossible places (oceans, arctic wilderness) could find a way to get to where the geothermal sources are, deep within the earth and bring them to the surface in a safe and feasible way, don't you think?

[Vogon_Glory]

3. Some Places Do Use It

Some places are starting to make use of geothermal. I think that Iceland already makes some use of geothermal for electrical generation. There's also a geothermal power station on the French island of Guadeloupe.

I am not a technical person, but I thought I read somewhere that it was supposedly cheaper and more profitable to build a fossil-fuel power plant rather than one that runs on geothermal.

Of course, in some places with corrupt governments (Like all too much of the Americas south of the Canadian border) it would indeed be more "profitable" to build a fossil fuel plant if the right kind of "profit" greased the right planners' and politicians' palms.

[applegrove]

4. In a place with severe weather like Canada, geothermal energy is

ideal if you can afford to install it. I mean when it is minus 15 Celsius outside in mid-winter, the permafrost is only a few feet down and then after that you get earth that is not frozen(not hot either but it is all relative, eh?). Works the same in summer when it is hot, hot, hot outside, you use the geothermal water to cool your house.

I think you see more geothermal 'situations' in Canada where we do have the winter and where anything that is 'not frozen' is therefore warm.