Geothermal is one of the more environmentally friendly energy processes in the U.S. and, although it definitely cannot be utilized all over, it is still a very cool process! The U.S leads the world in geothermal production, mostly because of The Geysers located in California, just a little ways from San Francisco. Within the U.S the leading states are NV with 9% of energy from geothermal, followed by 6% in CA.
There are three main categories of geothermal energy, each one with a specific use. Direct use was exemplified within Native American and Roman cultures, where bathing in local hot springs was fairly common. Next, geothermal power can have domestic use a a heating pump for cooking, household heating, etc. This process involves hot water from local springs being pumped into local houses for domestic use, this is a particularly common practice in Iceland.
Finally, direct heating systems, which produce much of the geothermal energy within the U.S. Hydrothermal dry steam (ie. underground steam) or hot water wells are drilled into the ground. Either from the hot steam directly released up to the surface, or by a flash cooling of hot water, released steam turns massive turbines. The spinning of the turbines energize a generator, providing energy for commercial or domestic use.
In case you have speculation for the utilization of geothermal, you certainly should. Although it is a GREAT environmentally friendly energy source (there are very few polluting aspects of geothermal, and the process is renewable), geothermal requires very specific locations and circumstances for implementation. Similarly, geothermal plants are very expensive and require major care to be truly "sustainable". That all being said it is still an interesting process and understanding its basic mechanics will make all of better sustainable energy advocates.
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