Geothermal Energy throughout the Ages

Geothermal energy is one of the oldest types of power used by humans. Archaeological evidence
suggests that the earliest direct use of geothermal power occurred at least 10,000 years ago in
North America, where indigenous peoples were drawn to hot springs for both spiritual and
practical reasons. It is clear that many viewed hot springs as sacred spaces and considered them
sites of healing, believing that soaking in warm spring water brought a wide range of medicinal
benefits. This drew people to the springs, making them gathering sites for different people and
offering opportunities for trade, diplomacy and cultural exchange. Others used hot springs for
more mundane reasons, like cooking food or providing an escape from the frigid winter climate.
Similarly, the peoples of ancient Greece and Rome viewed hot springs as places of healing
imbued with sacred power. The Greek physician Hippocrates (460–320 BCE) promoted the
health benefits of hot bathing, while the Roman author Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE) wrote about
the particular benefits of hot mineral baths for people suffering from muscle, joint, or paralytic
ailments. The Romans built shrines at hot springs, many of which yield archaeological evidence
that people sought to communicate with the gods. At the shrine to the goddess Minerva at Bath,
for example, archaeologists have uncovered 130 lead tablets upon which people had written
various pleas to the gods for assistance. Like the indigenous peoples of North America, the
Romans also used geothermal energy for more practical applications, such as providing space
heating for buildings.
The first effort to harness geothermal energy for industrial use came in 1818 in the Tuscan region
of Italy where French engineer François Jacques de Larderel pioneered a new way to extract
boric acid from hot springs. While others had developed the means to extract the acid using fire
to evaporate the water, de Larderel was the first to harness the region’s substantial geothermal
energy to drive the process. The town that grew up around the industrial production of boric acid,
Larderello, was also home to the first successful effort to produce electricity with geothermal
energy. In 1904, Italian scientist Piero Ginori Conti successfully used geothermal energy to
power a small generator capable of lighting several light bulbs. This modest beginning was the
foundation for much larger experiments, and in 1913, Larderello became the site of the world’s
first commercial geothermal power plant. After the Second World War, the United States
became a major producer of geothermal power. The largest geothermal power plant complex in
the world is The Geysers, located in the Mayacamas Mountains north of San Francisco. Opened
in 1960, the site now includes twenty-two power plants powered by steam from over 350 wells.
Though feasibility studies have been conducted on multiple sites, there are no geothermal power
plants currently operating in Alberta (or, for that matter, anywhere in Canada). The history of
geothermal energy in Alberta rests largely in direct use, most particularly in the province’s many
hot springs.
Geothermal Electricity Production
Basics
Geothermal power plants use steam to produce electricity. The steam
comes from reservoirs of hot water found a few miles or more below the
earth's surface.

The steam rotates a turbine that activates a generator, which produces

electricity. There are three types of geothermal power plants: dry steam, flash
steam, and binary cycle.

Dry Steam
Dry steam power plants draw from underground resources of steam. The
steam is piped directly from underground wells to the power plant where it is
directed into a turbine/generator unit. There are only two known underground
resources of steam in the United States:

1. The Geysers in northern California

2. Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, where there's a well-known
geyser called Old Faithful.

Since Yellowstone is protected from development, the only dry steam plants in
the country are at The Geysers.

Flash Steam
Flash steam power plants are the most common and use geothermal
reservoirs of water with temperatures greater than 360°F (182°C). This very
hot water flows up through wells in the ground under its own pressure. As it
flows upward, the pressure decreases and some of the hot water boils into
steam. The steam is then separated from the water and used to power a
turbine/generator. Any leftover water and condensed steam are injected back
into the reservoir, making this a sustainable resource.
Binary Steam
Binary cycle power plants operate on water at lower temperatures of about
225-360°F (107-182°C). Binary cycle plants use the heat from the hot water to
boil a working fluid, usually an organic compound with a low boiling point. The
working fluid is vaporized in a heat exchanger and used to turn a turbine. The
water is then injected back into the ground to be reheated. The water and the
working fluid are kept separated during the whole process, so there are little or
no air emissions.

Currently, two types of geothermal resources can be used in binary cycle

power plants to generate electricity: enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) and
low-temperature or co-produced resources.

Enhanced Geothermal Systems

EGS provide geothermal power by tapping into the Earth's deep geothermal
resources that are otherwise not economical due to lack of water, location, or
rock type. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that potentially 500,000
megawatts of EGS resource is available in the western U.S. or about half of
the current installed electric power generating capacity in the United States.

Low-Temperature and Co-Produced Resources

Low-temperature and co-produced geothermal resources are typically found
at temperatures of 300F (150C) or less. Some low-temperature resources can
be harnessed to generate electricity using binary cycle technology. Co-
produced hot water is a byproduct of oil and gas wells in the United States.
This hot water is being examined for its potential to produce electricity,
helping to lower greenhouse gas emissions and extend the life of oil and gas
fields.

Geothermal Energy
If you were to dig a big hole straight down into the Earth, you would notice the temperature getting
warmer the deeper you go. That's because the inside of the Earth is full of heat. This heat is called
geothermal energy.

People can capture geothermal energy through:

 Geothermal power plants, which use heat from deep inside the Earth to generate steam to make electricity.
 Geothermal heat pumps, which tap into heat close to the Earth's surface to heat water or provide heat for buildings.

Geothermal Power Plants

At a geothermal power plant, wells are drilled 1 or 2 miles deep into the Earth to pump steam or hot
water to the surface. You're most likely to find one of these power plants in an area that has a lot of
hot springs, geysers, or volcanic activity, because these are places where the Earth is particularly hot
just below the surface.

H
ow It Works

1. Hot water is pumped from deep underground through a well under high pressure.
2. When the water reaches the surface, the pressure is dropped, which causes the water to turn into steam.
 3. The steam spins a turbine, which is connected to a generator that produces electricity.
4. The steam cools off in a cooling tower and condenses back to water.
5. The cooled water is pumped back into the Earth to begin the process again.

Geothermal power plants

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Figure 1. Geothermal power plant (flash steam, combined cycle) in Iceland. [1]

Geothermal power plants are used in order to generate electricity by the use

of geothermal energy (the Earth's internal thermal energy). They essentially work the
same as a coal or nuclear power plant, the main difference being the heat source. With
geothermal, the Earth's heat replaces the boiler of a coal plant or the reactor of a
nuclear plant.[2] Click here to learn how this heat is produced.

Hot water or steam is extracted from the Earth through a series of wells and feeds
the power plant. In most geothermal plants the water pulled up from the ground is
returned back to the subsurface. The rate of water used is often larger than the rate of
water returned, so make-up water supplies are generally needed.
Types

There are 3 main types of geothermal power plants, with the flash cycle being the most
common. The choice of plant depends on how much geothermal energy is available,
and how hot the resource is. The hotter the resource, the less fluid needs to flow from
the ground to take advantage of it, the more useful it is. Some details of each plant may
be seen below:[3]
Dry steam plants

Figure 2. One of 22 dry steam plants at The Geysers in California. [4]

These plants use dry steam that is naturally produced in the ground. This steam travels
from the production well to the surface and through a turbine, and after transferring
its energy to the turbine it condenses and is injected back into the Earth. These types
are the oldest types of geothermal power plants, the first one was built back in 1904 in
Italy.[3] Because this type of power plant requires the highest temperatures they can only
be used where the temperature underground is quite high, but this type requires the
least fluid flow.

The dry steam plants at the Geysers in northern California, first drilled in 1924, are the
largest geothermal source of electricity. At their peak production in the late 1980s they
produced a whopping 2 GW of electricity - the equivalent of two large coal or nuclear
power plants.[2] However due to high rates of extraction, power has since declined to 1.5
GW of capacity, with an average output of less than 1 GW. [2]
Flash cycle steam plants
These types are the most common due to the lack of naturally occurring high-quality
steam.[2] In this method, water must be over 180°C, and under its own pressure it flows
upwards through the well. This is a lower temperature than dry steam plants have. As
its pressure decreases, some of the water "flashes" to steam, which is passed through
the turbine section. The remaining water that did not become steam is cycled back
down into the well, and can also be used for heating purposes. The cost of these
systems is increased due to more complex parts, however they can still compete with
conventional power sources.

Click here to take an interactive tour of a flash cycle power and heating plant from
Orkuveita Reykjavikur (a power company in Reykjavik).
Binary cycle plants
Binary power plants are expected to be the most commonly used type of geothermal
power plant in the future, as locations outside of the known hot spots begin to use
geothermal energy.[3] This is because binary cycle plants can make use of lower
temperature water than the other two types of plants. They use a secondary loop
(hence the name "binary") which contains a fluid with a low boiling point, such
as pentane or butane. The water from the well flows through a heat exchanger which
transfers its heat to this fluid, which vaporizes due to its low boiling point. It is then
passed through a turbine, accomplishing the same task as steam. [5]

Figure 3. Dry steam cycle.[6]

 
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Figure 4. Flash steam cycle.[7]