Uses of Geothermal Energy Technologies
When talking about geothermal energy, heating and cooling quickly comes to people’s minds. Perhaps because geothermal power is known for such usage. But geothermal energy is more than that. In fact, it has many uses that you might not imagine possible. Geothermal technologies make diverse fields of life easier and more convenient.
Application to Households
The most widely known application of geothermal energy is the heating and cooling. A liquid, like antifreeze, is used as the heat carrier that moves in a closed-loop pipe system. With this technology, geothermal power cools down your houses on summertime and warm temperature up in cold months. The energy concept is simple. Geothermal energy takes the heat from your house to send it down the pipes under the ground, where it cools naturally, and return it to the house already cooled. The same process is reversed to warm the house.
Application to Agriculture and Industry
Geothermal energy is used by farmers to heat their greenhouses. The warm water also results to the growth of animals like shellfish, alligators, trout, catfish, tropical fish and more. Another great use of geothermal energy is the drying of fruits, vegetables, and wood including timber. Even to the processing of paper mills and dying of wool to extract silver and gold from ore, geothermal technology is applied. There are still a lot of uses that geothermal energy contribute to the industry today.
Application to Food Processing
Just as the earth naturally supplies heat and steam, it enables geothermal energy to benefit the people endlessly. The natural steam from beneath the surface can be used to sterilize rooms and equipment, preventing the use of chemicals for the same purpose. Geothermal energy has various potential uses in food processing but it is yet to be utilized in a larger degree.
Application to Electricity Generation
Geothermal energy does not just provide steam, it also is electricity itself. A good generator of electricity are the geothermal plants. The flashed steam plants turn turbines when the “flash” boils and become a steam. The dry steam plants also, which rely on the natural steam from under the ground, produce electricity. Binary power plants use the water to heat a “secondary liquid”, which then vaporizes and turns turbines. The same vaporized liquid undergoes condensation and is ready for reuse. For the hybrid power plants, the flash and binary techniques are applied simultaneously. Geothermal power generation is clean and environment friendly.
Over the years, geothermal energy has been recognized for all the practical help it provides. The fact is that geothermal energy does not only have many uses, it also has massive raw power that can be readily applied to latest development and technologies. For the next years, we are looking forward to wonderful additions that geothermal energy can do.
