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o" means "from the earth," and "thermal" means "heat," so this type of energy is found under

Geothermal energy does not produce any pollution, and does not contribute to the greenhouse effect.

No fuel is needed.

Emissions generated during the construction phase include exhaust from vehicular traffic and construction equipment, fugitive dust from traffic on paved and unpaved roads, and the release of geothermal fluid vapors (especially hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, mercury, arsenic, and boron, if present in the reservoir). Activities such as site clearing and grading, power plant and pipeline system construction, and transmission line construction would have more intense exhaust-related emissions over a period of 2 to 10 years. Impacts would depend upon the amount, duration, location, and characteristics of the emissions and the meteorological conditions (e.g., wind speed and direction, precipitation, and relative humidity).

Most impacts to ecological resources (vegetation, wildlife, aquatic biota, special status species, and their habitats) would be low to moderate and localized during the construction phase (although impacts due to noise could be high). Activities such as site clearing and grading, road construction, power plant construction, ancillary facility construction, and vehicle traffic have the potential to affect ecological resources by disturbing habitat, increasing erosion and runoff, and creating noise at the project site. Impacts to vegetation include loss of native species and species diversity; increased risk of invasive species; increased risk of topsoil erosion and seed bank depletion; increased risk of fire; and alteration of water and seed dispersal.

Solid and industrial waste would be generated during construction activities. Much of the solid waste would be nonhazardous, consisting of containers and packaging materials, miscellaneous wastes from equipment assembly and presence of construction crews (food wrappers and scraps), and woody vegetation. Industrial wastes would include minor amounts of paints, coatings, and spent solvents. Most of these materials would likely be transported off-site for disposal.

According to studies, an economically competitive geothermal power plant can cost as low as $3400 per kilowatt installed.

Method Cents/kW-h Limitations and Externalities WindCurrently supplies approximately 1.4% of the global electricity demand. Wind is considered to be about 30% reliable. 4.0 - 6.0 Cents/kW-h Wind is currently the only cost-effective alternative energy method, but has a number of problems. Wind farms are highly subject to lightning strikes, have high mechanical fatigue failure, are limited in size by hub stress, do not function well, if at all, under conditions of heavy rain, icing conditions or very cold climates, and are noisy and cannot be insulated for sound reduction due to their size and subsequent loss of wind velocity and power. GeothermalCurrently supplies approximately 0.23% of the global electricity demand. Geothermal is considered 90-95% reliable. 4.5 - 30 Cents/kW-h New low temperature conversion of heat to electricity is likely to make geothermal substantially more plausible (more shallow drilling possible) and less expensive. Generally, the bigger the plant, the less the cost and cost also depends upon the depth to be drilled and the temperature at the depth. The higher the temperature, the lower the cost per kwh. Cost may also be affect by where the drilling is to take place as concerns distance from the grid and another factor may be the permeability of the rock. HydroCurrently supplies around 19.9% of the global electricity demand. Hydro is considered to be 60% reliable. 5.1 - 11.3 Cents/kW-h Hydro is currently the only source of renewable energy making substantive contributions to global energy demand. Hydro plants, however, can (obviously) only be built in a limited number of places, and can significantly damage aquatic ecosystems. SolarCurrently supplies approximately 0.8% of the global electricity demand. 15 - 30 Cents/kW-h Solar power has been expensive, but soon is expected to drop to as low as 3.5 cents/kW-h. Once the silicon shortage is remedied through alternative materials, a solar energy revolution is expected.

Tide 2 - 5 Cents/kW-h Blue Energy's tidal fence, engineered and ready for implementation, would provide a land bridge (road) while also generating electricity. Environmental impact is low. Tides are highly predictable.

Method Cents/kW-h Limitations and Externalities GasCurrently supplies around 15% of the global electricity demand. 3.9 - 4.4 Cents/kW-h Gas-fired plants and generally quicker and less expensive to build than coal or nuclear, but a relatively high percentage of the cost/KWh is derived from the cost of the fuel. Due to the current (and projected future) upwards trend in gas prices, there is uncertainty around the cost / KWh over the lifetime of plants. Gas burns more cleanly than coal, but the gas itself (largely methane) is a potent greenhouse gas. Some energy conversions to calculate your cost of natural gas per kwh. 100 cubic feet (CCF)~ 1 Therm = 100,000 btu ~ 29.3 kwh. CoalCurrently supplies around 38% of the global electricity demand. 4.8 - 5.5 Cents/kW-h Increasingly difficult to build new coal plants in the developed world, due to environmental requirements governing the plants. Growing concern about coal fired plants in the developing world (China, for instance, imposes less environmental overhead, and has large supplies of high sulphur content coal). The supply of coal is plentiful, but the coal generation method is perceived to make a larger contribution to air pollution than the rest of the methods combined.

t's called geothermal energy -- from the Greek words geo, or "earth," and therme, meaning "heat."

The core, about 4,000 miles (6,437 kilometers) beneath the surface, can reach temperatures of 7,600 degrees Fahrenheit

(4,204 degrees Celsius).

The short answer to this question is that Geothermal Energy is a type of renewable energy that is generated and stored within the Earth.

In 2011, U.S. geothermal power plants produced about 17 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh), or 0.4% of total U.S. electricity generation.

Transmission lines, Electric power transmission or "high voltage electric transmission" is the bulk transfer of electrical energy, from generating Geothermal plants. Source(s): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_po… 2 years ago

Unlike a coal or Natural Gas plant, geothermal facilities do not need to purchase fuel to generate electricity

The water that creates the energy ultimately returns to the Earth, where it can be used again.