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Encyclopedia of Sustainability Science and Technology pp 1–19Cite as

Geothermal Energy Utilization

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Definition and Importance of Geothermal Energy

Geothermal energy is the heat contained within the Earth that generates geological phenomena on a planetary scale. The main sources of this energy are the heat flow from the Earth’s core and mantle generated by the radioactive decay of potassium, thorium, and uranium in the crust or friction heat generated in subduction zones along continental plate margins. It may be characterized by surface expression of fumaroles, hot springs, geysers, volcanic eruption, and lava flows. Geothermal energy is often used to indicate that part of the Earth’s heat that can, or could, be recovered and exploited by humankind. The resource is large, is renewable in the broad sense, and is available almost everywhere in the world, depending upon the depth to the resource and the economics to produce it. The total estimated thermal energy above surface temperature to a depth of 10 km under the continents, reachable with current drilling technology, is 1.3 × 1027...

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Abbreviations

Balneology:

The science of the healing qualities of baths, especially with natural mineral waters; the therapeutic use of natural, warm, or mineral waters.

Binary power plant:

Used with low-temperature resources (below 150 °C or 300 °F) where a secondary low boiling point working fluid (normally a hydrocarbon) is vaporized by the geothermal fluid through a heat exchanger to drive a turbine producing electricity. Also referred to as an organic Rankine cycle (ORC) machine.

Caldera:

A large basin-shaped volcanic depression, circular in form, with a diameter many times greater than the included volcanic vent usually caused by an explosive volcanic eruption that drains the magma chamber resulting in the collapse of a volcano.

Calorie:

The quantity of heat needed to raise the temperature of 1 gram (g) of water by 1 degree centigrade (°C) at 16 °C. It is equal to 4.185 J.

Cap rock:

A comparatively impervious stratum that prevents the circulation of heat or fluid.

Conduction:

The transfer of heat through a medium or body driven by a temperature gradient and involving no particle motion. The average temperature gradient of the world, caused by conduction, is about 25 °C/km increasing with depth above the mean annual surface temperature.

Convection:

A process of mass movements of portions of any fluid medium (liquid or gas) as a consequence of different temperatures in the medium and hence different densities moving the medium and also the heat.

Enhanced (engineered) geothermal systems (EGS):

Extracting heat stored in rocks within about 10 km of the surface, from which energy cannot be economically extracted by natural hot water or steam. The system is hydrofractured and water is pumped down one well, extracting the heat by flowing through the fractures and producing hot water or steam through a second well.

Fault:

A fracture or fracture zone along which there has been displacement of the sides relative to one another parallel to the fracture. The movement can be vertical, horizontal, or a combination of the two.

Flash steam:

The steam generated when the pressure on hot water (usually above 100 °C) is reduced.

Fossil fuel:

A deposit of organic material containing stored solar energy that can be used as fuel, such as coal, natural gas, and petroleum.

Fumarole:

A hole or vent from which fumes or vapors issue; usually found in volcanic areas.

Geopressured Zones:

Zones below depths of 1,800–3,000 m, in which sediments in basins are commonly characterized by abnormally high pressure, high temperature, and high salinity.

Geothermal energy:

The internal energy of the Earth, usually from the radioactive decay of potassium, thorium, and uranium, often associated with magma bodies, available to humans as heat from heated rocks, water, or steam.

Geyser:

A spring that erupts with intermittent jets of heated water or steam.

Heat exchanger:

A device for transferring heat from one fluid to another. The fluids are usually separated by conducting walls of metal or plastic.

Heat flow:

Dissipation of heat coming from within the Earth by conduction. The worldwide average is about 65 mW/m2.

Heat pump:

A device which, by the consumption of work or heat, affects the transport of heat from a lower-temperature to a higher-temperature source. The useful output is heat in conventional usage. The reverse process is called a refrigerator used for the removal of heat.

Hot spring:

A thermal spring whose water has a higher temperature than that of the human body (usually above 40 °C).

Hydrothermal:

An adjective applied to heated or hot aqueous-rich solutions, to the processes of which they are concerned, and to the rocks, ore deposits, and alteration products produced by them.

Joule (J):

The SI unit for all forms of energy or work. It is equal to 1 W-s or 0.239 cal.

Lava:

Hot fluid rock that issues from a volcano or a fissure in the Earth’s surface coming from subsurface magma.

Magma:

Molten rock within the earth from which an igneous rock results by cooling and that forms lava when it erupts on the earth’s surface.

Permeability:

The capacity of a rock to transmit fluid, dependent upon the size and shape of the pores and their interconnections.

Seismic:

Pertaining to an earthquake or Earth vibrations, including those that are artificially induced.

Spa:

A resort using mineral water for bathing, soaking, and drinking along with covering portions of the body with mineral muds for therapeutic purposes. Diet, exercise, and rest can also be part of the spa treatment plan.

Subsidence:

A sinking of a large part of the Earth’s crusts, often due to the removal of fluid by pumping.

Volcano:

A vent in the Earth’s surface through which magma as lava and associated gases and pyroclastic material (rock, cinders, pumice, and ash) erupt.

Watt (W):

A unit of power or energy produced over time, equivalent to 1 J/s or 0.001341 horse power (hp).

Bibliography

Primary Literature

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Books and Reviews

  • Armstead HCH (1983) Geothermal energy, 2nd edn. E. & F.N. Spon, London, 404 p

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  • DiPippo R (2012) Geothermal power plants – principles, applications, case studies and environmental impact, 3rd edn. Elsevier, Amsterdam, 624 p

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  • Kavanaugh SP, Rafferty K (1997) Ground-source heat pumps – design of geothermal systems for commercial and institutional buildings. American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Atlanta, 167 p

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  • Lund JW, Lienau PJ, Lunis BC (1998) Geothermal direct-use engineering and design guidebook, 3rd edn. Geo-Heat Center, Klamath Falls, 454 p

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geo-Heat Center, Oregon Institute of Technology, Klamath Falls, OR, USA

    John W. Lund

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  1. John W. Lund
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Correspondence to John W. Lund .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Ramtech Ltd., Larkspur, California, USA

    Robert A. Meyers

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Lund, J.W. (2015). Geothermal Energy Utilization. In: Meyers, R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sustainability Science and Technology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2493-6_231-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2493-6_231-3

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  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-2493-6

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