1. Geothermal Energy Presented by: William Murray March 28, 2007

2. What is Geothermal Energy? • Defined: Energy that is generated by converting hot water or steam from deep beneath the Earth’s surface into electricity. • Unique renewable • Natural Energy Flow • Heat Mining • Enthalpy

3. The Heat Source • Tiny quantities of radioactive isotopes liberate heat as they decay • Core heat transfer through convection • Accessible in locations where heats interior is brought within reach • Lithospheric Plates • Significant heat flow • Volcanic activity

7. The Heat Source Cont’d • High enthalpy systems are divided into two categories • Vapor Dominated • Best and most productive • Free of liquids • Liquid Dominated • Relies on water at boiling point • Often results in steam “flash” • Two-phase zone

8. Geothermal Potential • Nature of the resource • Fluid Temperature • Salinity • Fluid Pressure • Gas Content • Economies of Scale • Maximum efficiency

9. Four Main Types • Dry steam power plant • Single flash steam power plant • Binary cycle power plant • Double flash power plant

10. Dry Steam Power Plant

11. Single/Double Flash Steam

12. Binary Cycle Power Plant

13. Ground Source Heat Pump

14. Global Capacity • Worldwide use of geothermal 9.3GW • 28 GW used directly for heating • 100GWt through ground-source heat pumps • Potential for 65-138GW • MIT claims 100GWe by 2050 • 0.3% of US energy consumption

15. Environmental Impact • Gaseous emissions • Less than 1/10th of coal-fired carbon emissions • Dissolved gasses • Land use • Noise • Potential ground subsidence

16. Geothermal Usage • Iceland generates 26.5% of energy from geothermal • .1% Fossil fuels • 73% Hydro • In the US • Alaska (1 Plant) • California (4.8% of electrical energy, 2.4GW installed capacity) • Hawaii (30MW on largest island, 20% of electrical energy) • Nevada(15 plants, 254MW) • Utah (reconstructed developing plants)

18. Applications in Belize • Belize is the only country in Central America that does not have the potential for geothermal energy according to the US Department of Energy

19. QUESTIONS?!!