James Peake, Donald Cameron, Kurtis Assad

Energy harnessing earth’s heat for energy Geothermal Energy Geo-Earth Thermal-Of/related to heat Energy harnessing earth’s heat for energy Geothermal is the form of renewable energy we chose. Geo-Meaning earth and Thermal meaning heat. This is energy that is created through exploiting the earth’s surplus of heat in the Upper mantle and deeper. Geothermal is commonly used for direct heating and creating steam to make electric energy.

How Geothermal Energy Works Holes are drilled deep into the earth and pipes are inserted. Seismic activity and the movement of magma breaks up the rock covering, allowing water to circulate. Geothermal energy works by drilling holes into the earth, and inserting pipes for water and steam. In many cases seismic activity and the movement of magma break up the rock covering deep in the earth allowing the water to circulate creating steam

How Geothermal Energy Works cont'd One pipe pumps cold water onto the hot rocks and magma, creating steam. A second pipe evacuates the steam to rotate a turbine which activates the generator. The turbine creates energy which can be used for many different things One pipe pumps water onto the hot rocks cooling them and creating steam, a second pipe is used to transport the steam back up to the surface where it turns a turbine activating a generator and creating energy that can be used for many different things throughout the world.

Household Uses During the summer, pipes absorb heat from the house to lower the house temperature. During the winter, the pipes take the heat from the circulating water and use it to heat the house. Horizontal and vertical loop pipe systems are most common amongst households. Geothermal energy also has a very cheap efficient household use as well, cooling and heating houses, during the summer a set of pipes extract the heat from your house and heats the water inside, during the winter the heat from tpipes heats your house. The most commonly used pipe systems are the horizontal and vertical piping systems.

Where It Is Found The most feasible locations are near areas with young volcanoes and earthquake activity. These locations are called “Hot Spots” The Pacific Rim is known for its Hot Spots, and is often used for geothermal energy. The best locations to find sources of geothermal energy are in area with younger volcanoes and or seismic activity, these locations are better known as "Hot Spots" and are most abundant in the Pacific Rim also known as the Ring of Fire, for its many hot spots.

Where is it Found cont'd There is 8900 Megawatts(mW) of geothermal capacity in 24 countries, enough to power 12 million average homes in the U.S. Out of the 3000 mW made in 8 states, 80% of it is made in California, approximately 2400 mW of geothermal energy is produced by more than 40 plants Throughout 24 countries there is approximately 8,900 megawatts of geothermal energy capacity, this is enough to power around 12 million average American households, that's a third of the people in Canada with powered homes. Approximately 80% of the geothermal energy created in 8 states is in California

Where it is Found cont'd Within ten kilometers of the earth's surface, there is approximately 50,000 times more geothermal energy than all of the oil and natural gas resources in the world. Within ten kilometers of the earth's surface, there is approximately 50,000 times more geothermal energy than all of the oil and natural gas resources in the world.

Such as The Costs Digging Building Maintaining There are many costs associated with managing geothermal energy. Such as accessing a heat sink which requires exploring a site and digging, making a new power plant at the site, and maintaining the plant. Costs also include the work force building it, digging the sinks, and working in the plant.

General costs Industrial:(Picture on the left) $3400 per kilowatt to install Operating and maintenance costs $0.01 to $0.03 per kWh Residential: (Picture on the right) $5,000 to $9,000 per ton of cooling/heating capacity In general costs we have the two different areas, industrial and residential. To install a Industrial geothermal power plant it is roughly $3400 per kilowatt to install, many factors influence this such as location. Operating and maintenance costs from $0.01 to $0.03 per kWh. For residential it can cost anywhere from $5000 to $9000 per ton of cooling/heating capacity, these numbers go down with a well insulated home.

Drilling Accounts for over half the costs $10 million 20% failure rate Drilling is the heaviest cost. Drilling takes up more than half of the costs associate with building power plant and costs an average of ten million dollars to create. This is the riskiest part of the process as it has an on average twenty percent failure rate.

Issues Harvesting Geothermal has consequences, including causing earthquakes, harming the environment, and releasing toxic gas Producing energy from abusing the natural heat reservoirs in the earth can also have many consequences. This includes creating earthquakes, damaging the environment, and producing toxic gases. Because geothermal is relatively new there could be more unknown consequences of making geothermal energy.

Extracting Geothermal can cause earthquakes Earthquakes are not large enough to cause serious damage. One problem with producing geothermal energy is that trying to find a heat reservoir can create earthquakes. With the advancements in technology the magnitude of these earthquakes have been on the rise. These earthquakes currently won't exceed a magnitude around 3 on the Richter scale.

Extracting geothermal energy can also release toxic gases (H2S) Toxic gases that are also bad for the environment Geothermal energy also produces toxic gases. One of these is hydrogen sulfide. In a recent study people who are exposed to low levels of hydrogen sulfide have been found to be more prone to wheezing, coughing and asthma attacks. Hydrogen sulfide is also bad for the environment.

This can lead to land sinks and alter drainage patterns. Extracting Geothermal energy also shifts the terrain around the site of extraction. This can lead to land sinks and alter drainage patterns. Producing Geothermal energy also damages the environment around the site of extraction. Extracting geothermal gases can reduce the pressure in underground reservoirs and cause the land to sink. As the ground sinks it tilts towards the center. This can alter surface drainage patterns

The fluids that come out of the geothermal plants are toxic. These fluids can infect waterways damaging wildlife. Geothermal energy also pollutes waterways. Geothermal fluids contain elevated levels of toxic substances. IF waste is released into rivers or lakes instead of being injected into the geothermal plant, these pollutants can damage wildlife and make the water unsafe for drinking or irrigation.

In conclusion geothermal has many negative impacts, as well as positive ones. So as you can see harvesting geothermal energy does not come without consequences. It has many negative side effects and because geothermal energy is relatively new many consequences might still not be known.

Geothermal in Thunder Bay? Geothermal is good in “hot spots” such as places near the edge of a tectonic plate. Areas are prone to have volcanic activity, Best places for geothermal. Geothermal in thunder bay. Geothermal energy is most easily accessed in the world's hot spots, areas that are on the edge of tectonic plates. These areas are prone to have volcanic activity closer to the surface making the resources readily available.

Thunder Bay is the opposite. Shield region Geothermal harder to reach. Thunder bay is the opposite of one of these regions, a shield region. Where the hot spots have resource near and ready for harvesting shield regions have a thick layer of rock in between the surface and the heat below. Making geothermal an unethical option. But that is only the industrial option.

Residential better option Residential Geothermal can work in any home (Even with a small amount of property) Eliminates need for natural gas and oil heating The residential option is much more suited for areas such as thunder bay as this option can work in almost anywhere. This option of geothermal has two main ways it can be installed horizontally in space provides and vertically. Both option start a few feet underground and heat a home much more effectively than other means.

Conclusion Easy to extract from sites. Comparably inexpensive. Easy to install (In the home) Low Pollutants Runs 24/7 In conclusion geothermal is a source of renewable energy that is easy to extract, comparably inexpensive to other forms of renewable energy, it is low in pollutants and other emissions and it runs 24/7