RENEWABLE ENERGY ////
Geothermal energy & Wind power by: Charles K. Bush J.R.
GEOTHERMAL ENERGY Is thermal energy stored within the
earth that provides a continuous amount of energy due to radioactive decay, volcanic activity, and solar energy absorbed at the earth’s surface.
The geothermal comes from the greek word “geo” meaning earth and “thermos” meaning heat .
HOW GEOTHERMAL ENERGY WORKS It’s tapping into the thermal(heat)
energy within the Earth. simply having a hot spring or actually having a well to power a generator or heat your water all comes from geothermal energy.
See how it works…
See how it works again…
WHAT’S IT USED FOR? From heating greenhouses, hot springs,
to warming houses, Some are used as heat sources for heat related processes used in modern industry and powering factories that give towns and cities power through hydrothermal (heated water) wells.
FACTORIES
Here some pictures of factories…
BENEFITS It has some environmental impact but the
benefits outweigh the risk. Geothermal energy is very efficient and unlike
solar or wind power is a truly continuous power source.
It’s a simple system and less can go wrong. Mostly emission free. Has the smallest land use of any renewable
energy source. No combustible by-products are transported or
released. No fuel costs to power plants.
DRAWBACKS Wells have to be dug miles
underground which is very expensive. The key to economically exploiting
geothermal resources using current technologies is finding the best producing hydrothermal wells, which are hard to find.
WHY ISN’T EVERYONE DOING IT? Drilling technology holds it back and
it’s still expensive to build. Governments and companies are
actually starting to fund and build these plants.
WIND ENERGY Wind energy is power obtained by the
natural flow of hot and cold air or wind this is used to spin tall turbines that
power generators when the propeller spins
Exp: wind mill or turbine
Basically…
…And energy comes out
WHAT IS IT USED FOR? To make electricity
BENEFITS Wind energy is emission free and
doesn’t harm the environment at all (except if a bird happens to hit the propeller).
Doesn’t require fuel or much electricity
DRAWBACKS Require large areas and many turbines
to actually get any energy. Only get energy when it’s very windy Also something about how too many
wind turbines would slow down the wind currents and change them causing drastic weather and climate changes.
PLANS FOR ENERGY CONVERSION A bunch of people are already doing
yet it requires large areas of land and this all makes it very expensive.
Pictures of wind turbines
http://www.greenhabitatdesign.com/Alertnative_Energy.htm
http://www.newenergyamerica.org/Page3.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geothermal_energy