Geothermal Power
Charlie Brewer Fall 2008
There is no one solution to global warming. Considering no one miracle technology exists that can single handedly control climate change, cutting carbon emissions change will take efforts on many fronts. Fortunately the collective utilization of current technologies can lead to a solution. Geothermal power can and must play a large part in controlling climate change, as it is technologically sound and economical natural resource.
Geothermal power utilizes the earth’s natural heat. The heat increases with depth, approximately three degrees Celsius per one hundred meters,[1] and is primarily generated by the decay of radioactive isotopes in rocks. If all of the heat that escapes into the atmosphere could be captured, it would be sufficient to provide electricity for the entire world. There is no technology to capture all of this heat energy, but systems have been created that harness some of it. The majority of these systems are located where two of the earth’s six plates meet, which also happen to be volcanic regions marked by comparatively shallow heat sources.Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag
Notes
- ↑ Dickson , Mary H., and Mario Fenelli. Geothermal Energy. Paris: UNESCO, 2003.
