Advantages Of Geothermal Energy

Advantages Of Geothermal EnergyGreen organizations in Dhahran aim to save environmental nil as likely as they can. Green organization found in Dhahran 2007 , from that time , organization prepargon to start this huge project in 2010 to conserve postcode in Saudi Arabia . In our project team we separated our team with respect to our majors. So, we end up with five parts to work on postal code conservation.The main problem in our environment that we concern on , is environment pollution and conventional heftiness wastes. In Saudi Arabia they uses only one tooth root to engender electricity by using dodo fuels, and we all know that is harmful and produce a lot of waste. Moreover, conventional cleverness has a limit of source , so over the time we may non have these sources to produce electricity.However, in our organization we found most agencyfulnessful solutions, and as a mechanically skillful Engineer in this organization I found that the suitable energy we can use is t he renewable ones, So, I found geothermic energy is the virtually powerful type.Many of kinds of energy we use in our daily life , in home, cars, etc. be not renewable forms of energy. The major source of these types is fossil fuels, as we know that fossil fuels took millions of grades to form, so its im realizable to make it now.Unfortunately, these kinds of energy has especial(a) amounts of sources. Moreover, these sources cannot be renewed , when they are gone they cannot be utilize again .So, we need as a green organization and as a part of hoi polloi live in our environment to save these energy as much as we can .However , at that place are many other kinds of energy called renewable energy .These types of renewable energy forever can be renewed or restored. Unlike fossil fuels , which harm the environment, renewable energy has much less effects to our environment.In this report I will introduce one of the most powerful type of energy , not harmful , renewable , and good efficiency .Heat is form of energy , and the heat that inside the reason is the major source of the renewable energy that I will babble about. The part of the heat inside the populace that people can use it and exploits it to form energy is called Geothermal Energy .I will ground you a brief history ,then I will talk about current status of geothermic energy activity in the world, and I will piss you some idea about the resources , then air sick explain how geothermic energy plants work , then I will talk about advantages disadvantages and make some comparison , after that Ill give you some numbers statistic , moreover , talking about future of this energy will be exciting. Finally I am going to list some of the milestones of geothermal energy power plant..-Brief HistoryThe thermal phenomena , volcanoes ,and hot springs must led our ancestors to believe that the interior part of the earth is hot . Moreover, when the showtime mines were excavated to about some hundr ed meters between the sixteenth and seventeenth century , the man who dig he recognized that as he go more sibylline as the temperature increase .By 1904, the first electricity generating attempt was being made from geothermal steam again, it was to take place at Larderello, Italy (Figure 1).Figure 1 , Mary H. Dickson and Mario FanelliIstituto di Geoscienze e Georisorse, CNR , Pisa, ItalyPrepared on February 2004, The engine used at Larderello in 1904 in the first experiment in generating electric energy from geothermal steam, along with its inventor, Prince Piero Ginori Conti.This experiment was successful and it was indication of the industrial value of geothermal energy. Moreover, Larderello in Italy succeed in commercial electricity generation. And by 1942 the installed electricity which generated by geothermal energy reached 127,650 kWe . However , other several countries start follow Italy , for example , in 1919 Japan drilled there first wells in Beppu, 1921 in USA , 1958 in New Zea fine-tune , and in 1959 in Mexico, and followed by many other countries.From that time the geothermal studies applied to earth . And the thermal energy now increase ,but mankind can only use fraction of this energy until now.-Current Status The thermal energy increases with time, and so far the uses of this energy is limited to areas where body of pissing in the liquid phase or steam .If we take USA status now , we can see that geothermal energy is not powerful , because USA has a special case where there are some reasons for that. First, in competing generating technologies , prices of fuels used are decreased. Moreover , demand for electricity has a slow growth. Another reason that has been a surplus of electricity in USA .On the other hand , we can get benefits from that repudiation of geothermal energy in USA . KSA has different conditions about electricity generation , we have only one source of electricity and the demand on that increases relational to time. So as a green organization we can contract with these companies that worked in USA , so we can get the experience and they can activate there work here in KSA. Resources of Geothermal Energy Complex processes lead to heat concentration at accessible depth under the earth , this is the main source of geothermal energy. However, there are many different forms of geothermal energy resources , such as hydrothermal, hot dry rock, geopressured, magma, and earth heat. As an example , temperature of risquely viscous or partially molten rock is between 1,200 and 2,200F , these can be exist e genuinelywhere under the earth surface at depth of 80 to 100 kilometers.There are different characteristic of geothermal resources . First, hydrothermal resources, these are steam or hot wet where we can drill and reach these germs and deliver the heat to earth surface to generate electricity. Second , hot dry rock (Figure2) , these rocks stores heat at very high temperature and the plant inject cold water to these areas and extract this water after being hot from other well. Third, geopressured resources consist of deeply buried brines at moderate temperature that contain dissolved methane, however , this resource are not economically competitive soon, so no funds are directed toward accessing these resources. Fourth, magma , this resorce give extremely high temperature but there is no technology to get that heat energy until now. Finally, we can use earth heat as a resource and it is proven technology. Types of Geothermal antecedent PlantsThere are three types of geothermal power plant, depend on the way that electricity generated. hither are the three types1- Dry Steam Power PlantThese plants uses the hot steam which extracted from the earth by wells to rotate the turbine that generate electricity.2- Flash Steam Power PlantThis is the most common type of geothermal power plant. These plants extract hot water from the earth at 360 F, pressure decrease as water flows up through we lls , as a result of pressure decreases, water converted to steam . So, steam is used to rotate the turbine.3- Binary steering wheel Power PlantThese plants uses the heat from lower-temperature reservoirs to boil the working quiet which vaporized by heat exchanger and used to power a generator. The remaining water which never comes into direct contract with working fluid is injected back to the ground by injection wells. Procedure of Geothermal Energy in Details weewee in underground reservoirs is heated to high temperature by magma , proceedsion wells drilled up to 3 kilometers below the earth surface tapping to this hot fluid. beneath its own pressure ,fluid flows up through these wells towards the surface , as it travels , the pressure decrease causing small amount to become steam. Then, hot fluid and steam move through a surface pipeline to a well head separator where the pressure in reduced, here, most of the fluid vaporizes and flashes into high pressure steam. After that, any fluid not flashed into steam moves to a standard pressure crystallizer to produce standard pressure steam . Then, remaining fluids is flashed at a lower pressure to create low-pressure steam. Finally, all steam created in the plant is sent to a turbine onside. The force of the steams spins the turbine plates which turns a shaft affiliated to an electronic generator. As a result, an electric charge is created and directed to a transformer , where the voltage is increased. However, any fluid not flashed into steam return to the underground reservoir where in time they will be reheated and reused. Advantages of Geothermal EnergyThere is no consumption of any type of fossil fuels. Moreover, geothermal energy doesnt product any type of greenhouse effect. Also, if we talk about energy consumption, geothermal energy does not consume any energy since its renewable energy, so there is no limit of using geothermal energy. Furthermore, it is great for protecting the natural environment s ince the power plant shouldnt be huge. Disadvantages of Geothermal EnergyThere are several disadvantages to geothermal energy. First, you cannot build the power plant in any vacant land, there must be studies on the area , and the area chosen should consist of hot rocks to get the geothermal energy as we want. Also, not any type of rocks we can drill into, there are some kinds which is possible to drill into. Advantages of Geothermal Energy Compared With Other Conventional Energy* Fewer more easy to control emissions of atmospheric pollutions.* Fewer amount of wastes.* Demands of areas for a power plant is much less than other conventional plants.* Continues circle , renewable. Cost of Geothermal Power PlantIn general, economically competitive geothermal power plant hail $3400 per kilowatt. However , the cost of construct new geothermal power plant is higher than natural gas facilities, but over a long term they are similar in cost. This is because natural gas crook cost one thi rd of the total price and remaining 2 third of the cost represented by fuel. While, construction of new geothermal power plant cost two third of the total price. So, initial enthronization for geothermal power plant is high, but with time it is economically comparable with natural gas plant.If you wondering that is the cost of geothermal power plan displace like other fossil fuels, I can say no, because whenever you build a geothermal plant you should know most of power performance and few market parameter can modify them.There many factors effect the cost of a geothermal power plant cost. First in construction period, steel and metals effect the price of the plant. Also, drilling price varies. Moreover, place of the plant effect the price because of connection of electric grid. Buy or rent land will raise the cost, because to fully study and explore a geothermal resource you need at least 8 km2.Energy and investment costs for electric energy production from renewables (from Fri dleifsson, 2001)Current energy costUS/kWhPotential future energy costUS/kWhTurnkey investment costUS$/kWBiomass5 154 10900 3000Geothermal2 101 8800 3000Wind5 133 101100 1700Solar (photovoltaic)25 1255 255000 10 000Solar (thermal electricity)12 184 103000 4000Tidal8 158 151700 2500 Future of Geothermal Energy in KSAGreen organization always try to save our environment as possible as they can. After talking about the geothermal energy in detailed I think this is the time to conserve energy for our environment. So, KSA companies and government always coincide new idea which conserve our environment. I think Saudi Arabia will have huge improvement in geothermal energy ,since the land sort and hot climate and the increment of electricity demand as we see in figure below. Some Famous Milestones of Geothermal Power PlantHere are some famous geothermal power plant milestones where Saudi Arabia can get benefit from there experience .Early 1900sFirst geothermal electricity commercializationConversion of high-grade hydrothermal resources to electricity began in Italy in the early 1900s.1960U.S. commercializationThe first commercial-scale growth tools were placed at The Geysers in California, a 10-megawatt unit owned by Pacific Gas Electric.1970Reinjection of geothermal fluidsInjection of spent geothermal fluids back into the production zone began as a instrument to dispose of waste water and maintain reservoir life.1972Deep well drillingTechnology improvements led to deeper reservoir drilling and access to more resources.1977 sultry dry rock demonstratedIn 1977, scientists developed the first hot dry rock reservoir at Fenton Hill, New Mexico.1978Federal research and development (RD) funding exceeds $100 millionU.S. Department of Energy ( vigour) funding for geothermal research and development was $106.2 million (1995 dollars) in fiscal year 1978, marking the first time the funding level surpassed $100 million. It remained above $100 million until fi scal year 1982, when it was reduced to $56.4 million (1995 dollars). Currently, the budget is in the $30 million to $40 million range.1978Public Utility Regulatory PoliciesAct (PURPA)enactedPURPA mandated the purchase of electricity from qualifying facilities (QFs) meeting certain technical standards regarding energy source and efficiency. PURPA overly exempted QFs from both State and Federal regulation under the Federal Power Act and the Public Utility Holding Company Act.1980First commercial binary systemThe first commercial-scale binary plant in the United States, installed in Southern Californias Imperial Valley, began operation in 1980.1980sCalifornia Standard domiciliate ContractsCalifornias Standard Offer Contract system for PURPA QFs provided renewable electric energy systems a relatively firm and stable market for output, allowing the financing of such capital-intensive technologies as geothermal energy facilities.1982Hydrothermal generating capacityof 1,000 megawattsGeot hermal (hydrothermal) electric generating capacity, primarily utility-owned, reached a new high level of 1,000 megawatts.1989Geopressured power plant demonstratedIn 1989, DOE and the Electric Power Research Institute operated a 1-megawatt demonstration plant in Texas, extracting methane and heat from brine liquids.1990Drop in Federalfunding forgeothermal RDto $15 millionDOE funding for geothermal energy research and development declined throughout the 1980s, reaching its low point in fiscal year 1990.1991Magma drillingproject reaches adepth of 7,588 feetThe worlds first magma exploratory well was drilled in the Sierra Nevada Mountains to a depth of 7,588 feet. It did not encounter magma at that depth inside the caldera.1994Industry consolidates and looks at new marketsCalifornia Energy became the worlds largest geothermal company through its acquisition of Magma Power. Near-term international markets gained the interest of U.S. geothermal developers.1985-95 substance outside The Gey sers exceeds 1,000 megawattsSince 1985, U.S. geothermal developers have added nearly 1,000 megawatts of geothermal electric generating capacity outside The Geysers.1995Worldwidegeothermal capacity of 6,000 megawattsWorldwide geothermal capacity currently totals 6,000 megawAtts in 20 countries. ConclusionAfter we see the advantages of geothermal energy, and after we know that geothermal energy have nothing to emission to the environment. Moreover, geothermal energy is the best type of renewable energy in terms of cost , efficiency ,and safety. Consequently, I think the most powerful alternative type of energy in KSA is geothermal energy. As I said, its renewable, so we will not lose any energy and this is enough to start geothermal energy production in KSA.