James Peake, Donald Cameron, Kurtis Assad

Geothermal Energy

Geo-Earth Thermal-Of/related to heat

Energy harnessing earth’s heat for 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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

The Costs

Such as

Digging Building Maintaining

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

Drilling Accounts for over half the costs $10 million 20% failure rate

Issues Harvesting Geothermal has

consequences, including causing earthquakes, harming the environment, and releasing toxic gas

Extracting Geothermal can cause earthquakes

Earthquakes are not large enough to cause serious damage.

Extracting geothermal energy can also release toxic gases (H2S)

Toxic gases that are also bad for the environment

Extracting Geothermal energy also shifts the terrain around the site of extraction.

This can lead to land sinks and alter drainage patterns.

The fluids that come out of the geothermal plants are toxic.

These fluids can infect waterways damaging wildlife.

In conclusion geothermal has many negative impacts, as well as positive ones.

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.

Thunder Bay is the opposite. Shield region Geothermal harder to reach.

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

Conclusion Easy to extract from sites. Comparably inexpensive. Easy to install (In the home) Low Pollutants Runs 24/7