Energy

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Geothermal

We will look at energy derived from Geothermal resources, covering its advantages and disadvantages.

Which of the following do you think best describes geothermal energy?

Have a look at this image.

It shows how a geothermal power station works.

What is it that turns the turbine which is connected to the generator?

The Earth heats up the water and turns it to steam.

The steam rises up through the tube and turns the turbine which is connected to the generator. This generates electricity.

So geothermal power stations need the earth to be hot just under the surface. This is not the case everywhere on Earth! We can only generate geothermal energy in places where there are hot rocks directly under the surface. Where do you think that might be? Pick all the options you think are correct.

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What type of energy resource is geothermal energy?

Geothermal is a renewable energy resource, because when we have used the steam to turn the turbine and generate energy, the steam is cooled down and turned back into water, which we can then return back to Earth, so we can use it again.

What are the advantages of geothermal energy? Pick all the options you think are correct.

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What are the disadvantages of geothermal energy? Pick all the options you think are correct.

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So the disadvantages of geothermal energy are cost and geographic limitations. The power plant that houses the turbines and generators are expensive to build and it is only possible to generate geothermal energy in certain areas of the world, which means we can't produce huge amounts of energy this way.

The advantages of geothermal energy are that it is a renewable resource that doesn't cause pollution, it's a very reliable source of energy, and once the power plant is built, it is not very costly to run.