Geothermal Energy Advantages And Disadvantages

Under the earth’s surface there are vast amounts of energy. The sources of this energy are mainly radioactive decay and heat from the sun. The insulating property of earth matter is keeping the energy in place allowing us to harness it. as you go deeper in the earth you will find more heat and stable relatively stable temperatures compared to the surface.

Advantages

Geothermal energy is cheap once the initial costs have been covered. It’s not unusual to see numbers of about 1:5 in terms of energy required to the pump vs. energy delivered.

Practically unlimited resources. Some say geothermal energy stored in the earth will outlive the sun itself

Geothermal energy is green. there is no pollution or emission to speak of. This is obviously a great advantage compared to fossil fuels.

The stable temperatures provide reliable energy, excellent for providing a base source of energy. if the energy demand exceeds this levels the extra could be covered e.g. by gas, oil or other forms of energy.

Waste is not an issue because there are no fuel involved. Pipes are transporting water through heat exchangers before the sent into the earth again creating a circular water system. Geothermal power plants can be hidden under the ground aesthetically more pleasing than other power plants.

Disadvantages

There are not many disadvantages to mention, but they are great obstacles.

The first one is the steep price of investment. It could take years before the price is earned back in energy consumed. Geothermal heat systems are long-term projects and should be considered carefully. You also need enough land for the pipes and digging.

If you want a more thoroughly article about this check out Geothermal Energy Pros and Cons.The potential of geothermal energy is huge. there are mostly advantages by using such a technology, but as previous mentioned, the investment cost is steep. in the future we could see similar systems being more widely used and with other renewable energy sources contribute positively in turning the climate crisis. Interesting parallells can be drawn to similar methods such as wind energy: Wind Energy Pros and Cons.


Processing your request, Please wait....