How much potential does geothermal energy, a cheap and renewable energy source, have to meet America’s clean energy needs?
According to NPR.org, geothermal energy could bring clean power hundreds of millions of homes and factories worldwide.
Oil sources are lessening and are growing increasingly more expensive. The people are pushing for greener alternatives. With all this brouhaha about going green a few scientists peeped up about going “red”. Their “red” solution is harnessing red hot magma for geothermal energy. Geothermal energy is renewable and its factories produce almost zero greenhouse gas emissions and scientists in Iceland have successfully harnessed the power mother nature herself. Iceland sits on top of the schism of the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates along what is known as the Mid-Atlantic ridge. This ridge feeds some thirty volcanoes magma as the two plates rip apart. Icelandic scientist use the old adage, “where there is smoke there is fire,” with respect to how they harness this awesome, primal energy source. Surface volcanoes are like beacons indicating a “hot spot” or source of magma for the volcano. Geologists then carefully drill deep wells over these hot spots. Water and steam are launched forth, although not instantaneously, from the wells like man-made geysers. The steam is then stripped of impurities and pumped into turbines that power generators that create electricity. The hot water can be guided through pipes into radiators to heat homes and businesses.
95 percent of the homes in Iceland are already heated with geothermal energy, which is 5 times less expensive than oil heat. Where might we see geothermal energy used in the US? Perhaps in Northern California, which has the world’s largest hot spots with their natural geysers. Beyond that, there are not enough hot spots in America to power the entire country as Iceland does. Hippies need not break out their protest poster boards just yet although scientists at MIT estimate that geothermal energy could power up to 10 percent of the country.
$6 billion can go a long ways. It can pay for 25,000 students to attend Harvard, finance one month of the war in Iraq, and even re-build the World Trade Center with plenty left over to spare. But it might not be enough to save one of the most renowned cities in the world from despair.
