Geothermal energy is a renewable energy source because heat is continuously produced inside the earth. People use geothermal heat for bathing, for heating buildings, and for generating electricity. Source: Adapted from a National Energy Education Development Project graphic (public domain)
This report shows how advanced geothermal technology could increase the United States'' geothermal energy production to 90 gigawatts or more by 2050, a twentyfold increase.
See how we can generate clean, renewable energy from hot water sources deep beneath the Earth''s surface. The video highlights the basic principles at work in geothermal energy production and illustrates three different ways the earth''s heat
Geothermal energy is heat that is generated within Earth. ( Geo means "earth," and thermal means "heat" in Greek.) It is a renewable resource that can be harvested for human use. About 2,900 kilometers (1,800 miles) below Earth''s crust, or surface, is the hottest part of our planet: the core.
Geothermal energy is thermal energy extracted from the Earth''s crust. It combines energy from the formation of the planet and from radioactive decay. Geothermal energy has been exploited as a source of heat and/or electric power for millennia.
Dry steam, the oldest geothermal technology, takes steam out of fractures in the ground and uses it to directly drive a turbine. Flash plants pull deep, high-pressure hot water into cooler,
Enhanced geothermal systems have been in development since the 1970s. Recent advances show that they could dramatically increase production of renewable energy.
geothermal energy, a natural resource of heat energy from within Earth that can be captured and harnessed for cooking, bathing, space heating, electrical power generation, and other uses.
The full potential of geothermal energy can be realized through creation of new well technologies and retrofitting of existing wells, hybridization with other renewables, novel power-generation resources and technologies, and community-based heating, cooling, and resilience.
The Department of Energy''s Geothermal Technologies Office (GTO) works to reduce costs and risks associated with geothermal development by supporting innovative technologies that address key exploration and operational challenges.