What are geothermal energy advantages and disadvantages? - 0 views
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Advantages: Geothermal energy cost is extremely low compared to many other energy sources. It has low pollution compared to fossil fuels and nuclear energy. Geothermal energy is a renewable energy source. Almost no environmental impact when using geothermal heat from nuclear decay. Geothermal heat pump systems can reduce your energy use storing heat from the summer/sun and makes use of it in the night and winter. Low maintenance systems.
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Disadvantages: The most important disadvantage is absolutely the geological problem. The heat source is mostly close to volcanic activity of some sort. Chemicals are byproducts of the production electricity with hot ground water. Some geothermal plants use a lot of water and it needs to go somewhere its after use. Some of the poluting chemicals in that water and steam are sulfur, mercury, hydrogen sulfide, arsenic, ammonia. Earth is a changing creature. A drilled hole in the ground could supply thousands of homes heat and one earthquake could change that in a second. It can also change gradually over time. Location, location, location. That is certainly true of geothermal energy. It cannot be transported over vast distances. If used to heat up houses or for hot tap water it is only the quality of the pipe that delivers the water that determines how far it can go and if it will be of any use when it arrives. If the heat is used for electrical production it helps to have plants close so the energy loss is not too great.
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Corrosion is a big problem. Composition of the chemicals can vary but it is always a problem. It is among other the reason they need to heat up clean water to use and do not use it directly in to heating of houses. In cases it has been used directly it causes pipes to corrode. In nuclear heating rock the rock cools down over few decades and hundreds of years are needed to get initial heating back. Power stations of that sort are therefore not considered as profitable. Geothermal Heat pump systems do have high installation cost. Some areas run out of water or run low on ground water during seasonal dry spells. Less water means less heat and less energy to produce. Some drilling sites are too hot to handle. Yea. Drillers have actually tried and tried some holes and they just can’t get the needed equipment in because the holes shoot it out like guns. With workers running to stay alive while steel rains down on them.