One of the most magnificent natural wonders in United States can be seen in Wyoming:  YellowStone National Park.  Millions of visitors from across the country and around the world have traveled thousands of miles to witness the many geysers in the park, most notably, the Old Faithful.  Old Faithful’s eruptions can be predictable as described by Harry Woodward’s mathematical relationship involving intervals and duration which we won’t dare go into here.  Mr. Woodward’s predictions have given visitors an opportunity to wait for an eruption knowing they will get to see something they’ll cherish for the rest of their lives. 

We’re not going to talk about geysers, because you have to see them to really appreciate their beauty.  But how the eruptions occur is where we can relate it to geothermal power, a “renewable” – as in always available – energy source that is far less polluting than using fossil fuels.  Yet, the world’s geothermal power plants only produce less than 0.3% of the global electricity demand.  Why is that?

First, how does geothermal power work?  We often don’t think too much about what’s happening inside the Earth as we do what’s happening on it, but it is a world of gases and hot magma all centered into what is called an iron core.  Magma is an essential ingredient to creating geothermal energy which is created from solar conduction and mineral decay over millions of years since the birth of the planet and continues to replenish itself as long as planet is sustainable.  So in other words, there is plenty of it.  When magma flows near the Earth’s surface it heats up the trapped water in the rocks near the surface to a boil.  With enough pressure, the boiling water shoots out of the ground resulting in a spectacular show like the Old Faithful.  But besides the geysers, the steam from the boiling water can also be used to produce electricity and it doesn’t pollute the earth, because geothermal power plants do not require fuel to run the turbines producing the electricity and the power source does not have to be transported. So, why don’t we use it as much?

A lot of reasons: Political, public awareness and support, and not enough corporate interest are some.  But mainly, it is because much of the geothermal energy is stored near tetonic plate boundaries and building a geothermal plant involves high start-up costs with the drilling, the deep exploration of the resource, and the construction of the plant.  In addition, finding the source is not always a success; matter-of-fact, it has a high rate of failure at 20% (according to Wikipedia).  The failure rate alone would scare off any investors looking for new ventures in the energy market.  But the positives in using geothermal energy as a power source cannot be ignored.  There are plants around the world that are successfully tapping into these resources and producing mass amount of energy.  Geothermal systems are becoming more advanced allowing plants to have greater range and once the plants are constructed, it can be very profitable as it does not require any fuel to run the turbines.  In addition, geothermal energy is far less polluting than fossil fuel with very little emissions of CO2 and power is generated on site; therefore eliminating the transportation factor.

You can learn more about geothermal power and other renewable energy sources at Conserve Energy Future.   **The images were provided by the owner of Conserve Energy Future**