Understanding Geothermal Energy

For millions of years, the Earth has contained super-heated waters at various levels of its surface. The process is known as geothermal heating, and it is a continual and ongoing activity.  These waters escape through steam vents and geysers on a regular basis. Because such waters are available on a predictable schedule, humans have been actually using them for centuries. The ancient Romans and Chinese, as well as Native Americans in the United States would all put the waters to use for cooking, bathing and heating. Today it is not uncommon to find a geothermal powered home in almost any community.

The first thing to note is that while there are massive power plants using geothermal energy to spin enormous turbines, providing electricity to homes and buildings connected to their grid, a geothermal powered home is actually one that will only be heated and cooled via this technology. In order for a home to receive all of its electrical supplies from a geothermal system, the building would need to exist within the immediate area of a geothermal power plant. Currently, the majority of these plants must be located within areas of geothermal activity, meaning along major plate boundaries of the Earth’s crust.

Geothermal heating and cooling simply use the existing heat or cold rather than producing results through any sort of combustion or electrical activities. A geothermal powered home will employ a system containing a pump and two different subsystems that will either pump hot air out of the building and into the ground or pull heat stored in the ground back into a building during the cold months.

These subsystems will generally be referred to as the “connection” and the “distribution” systems. While one will absorb or distribute heat or cold, the other removes the heat and forces it back into the building via the pumps. This is a very simplified explanation of geothermal heating for a home or business, but the best way to understand them is to see that they require only the installation of the subsystems and pumps to use ambient air as a way of creating home heating and cooling. Many newer systems also produce some domestic hot water as well.

Any geothermal heating will be a renewable and clean energy. The power plants entirely eliminate the chances for acid rain and environmental pollutants of any kind, and the geothermal powered home will be one that can exist entirely “off the grid”. This means that the Earth as well as the Sun are reliable sources for energy production.