Geothermal news digest

The Nesjavellir Geothermal Power Plant in Iceland

Geothermal power is power extracted from heat stored in the earth. This geothermal energy originates primarily from the original formation of the planet, from radioactive decay of minerals, and also from solar energy absorbed at the surface.

According to research in 2007 led by MIT and sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, the upper limit of recoverable deep geothermal resources in the U.S. approaches 6 million times the country’s current energy use. And completely sustainable. Click on the 400-plus page report title, “The Future of Geothermal Energy”, to download the 14.1 MB file. SponsoredThe report detailing the findings is available 

Geothermal energy has been used for space heating and bathing since ancient Roman times, but is now better known for generating electricity. Worldwide, geothermal plants have the capacity to generate about 10 GW as of 2007, and in practice generate 0.3% of global electricity demand.

An additional 28 GW of direct geothermal heating capacity is installed for district heating, space heating, spas, industrial processes, desalination and agricultural applications.