Geo-Thermal EnergySo much is talked about the need to quash the use of traditional non eco friendly energy fuels. But most of these people fail to show what could be done to replace these fuels. Let us try to define our requirements first. We need an energy source that is abundant. We also need it to be efficient enough to replace our conventional fuel. Further we need our new source of fuel to be easily accessible. When these primary requirements are met we need to make sure they are green energy sources, by which I mean they should be renewable, sustainable and eco friendly. A handful of such sources come to mind and Geo thermal energy offers a very lucrative alternative. What is geo thermal energy? The core of our earth contains dense mass of metals and minerals in a plasma state! The temperature is extremely high in those regions. These minerals are in a constant state of radioactive decay. This process is nothing but the deformation of complex elements in to its constituent radioactive primitives such as alpha and beta particles. As a side effect of this process tremendous amount of heat is produced and is pent up under the earth. All this compressed heat could be effectively utilized for generating tons of energy and power which could fuel a substantial amount of our earth’s requirements. How do we procure this geo thermal power? The earth beneath us has tectonic plates. These tectonic plates are constantly under motion. They are also the source of seismic, volcanic and tidal activity in many parts of the world. Further at the fringe of these tectonic plates we can find the geo thermal wells where one can tap the necessary emissions of heat. The geo thermal emissions are eco friendly. Unlike the traditional sources of fuel they will not harm the environment in anyway. Further the millions of years of radioactive decay must have created a lot of heat. All that has to be done is to tap them. At present less than one percent of the earth’s requirements are met by geo thermal energy. Scientists are exploring ways to tap this energy profitably. A theoretical estimate shows that we should be able to produce another 30 Mw of energy with the known sources of geo thermal energy. On the other hand people who are researching this area suggest that the geo thermal energy has the potential to satisfy all of mankind’s needs and much more! The efficient and profitable utilization of the geo thermal source of energy is the need of the hour. This energy could be use to produce electricity. Further heating pools and rooms could be facilitated as a direct use of geo thermal energy. The geo thermal energy is earth’s way of collecting heat due to its motion and the radioactive energy of minerals. As the amount of heat within increases the earth is now finding way on its own to give them out. We are just tapping a small fraction of that energy without necessarily speeding it up. Thus geo thermal energy is renewable, sustainable and eco friendly. |
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