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U.S. Production 13.95 billion gallons 332.11 million barrels

U.S. Production 0.97 billion gallons 23.03 million barrels

eothermal power plants do not burn fuel to generate electricity, so their emission levels are very low. They release less than 1% of the carbon dioxide emissions of a fossil fuel plant. Geothermal plants use scrubber systems to clean the air of hydrogen sulfide that is naturally found in the steam and hot water.

Geothermal plants emit 97% less acid rain-causing sulfur compounds than are emitted by fossil fuel plants. After the steam and water from a geothermal reservoir have been used, they are injected back into 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.

Most Geothermal Resources Are Near Plate Boundaries The most active geothermal resources are usually found along major plate boundaries where earthquakes and volcanoes are concentrated. Most of the geothermal activity in the world occurs in an area called the Ring of Fire. This area encircles the Pacific Ocean.

The ring of fire goes around the edges of the Pacific. The map shows that volcanic activity occurs around the Pacific rim.Source: National Energy Education Development Project (Public Domain) Naturally occurring large areas of hydrothermal resources are called

3,816,000 Gigawatts of Electricity is used in the United states each year

Tidal energy use harnesses the water flow created primarily by the moon orbiting the Earth. As water is pulled toward the gravity of the moon, currents are created that can turn generator turbines.

Tidal energy use involving dams creates many of the same environmental concerns as damming rivers. Tidal dams restrict fish migration and cause silt build up which affects tidal basin ecosystems in negative ways. Systems that take advantage of natural narrow channels with high tidal flow rates have less negative environmental impact than dammed systems. But they are not without environmental problems. Both systems use turbines that can cause fish kills. But these are being replaced by new, more fish friendly turbines. The art and science of environmentally friendly hydro engineering is well advanced and will certainly be applied to any tidal energy project.

Because of intermittency and variable flow problems of tidal energy, it is a very limited resource. The DOE Tidal Energy link, above, states that there are only about 40 really good sites on Earth with high enough flows to be considered economically practical