Geothermal Energy

By: Parneet, Kathryn & Hayden

Why Geothermal?
It is renewable

- Because geothermal energy is heat within the earth and heat is continuously produced inside the earth

It is reliable

- The geothermal power plants produce electricity consistently (running 24/7)

- Weather conditions do not affect it

It has a small footprint

- Geothermal power plants are compact and use less land per GWh (404 m2)

It is clean

- The modern closed-loop geothermal power plants don’t release greenhouse gasses
- Geothermal power plants consume less water than the other conventional generation technologies

It is versatile

- Useful by-product heat is produced and can be combined with fish farms, greenhouses, and food processing
- You can directly drill for heat if needed
What are the details of this process?
❖ Geothermal Power Plants: make electricity by generating steam using the heat from deep
inside the Earth
➢ Wells that are drilled 1 or 2 miles deep into the Earth

➢ Pump steam and hot water to the surface

➢ Can usually be found in areas that have a lot of hot springs, geysers, or volcanic activity

❖ Geothermal Heat Pumps: provide heat for buildings by absorbing the heat near the
Earth's surface from the heated water
➢ Heat and cool homes and warm swimming pools
➢ Transfer heat by pumping water or a refrigerant (which is a special type of fluid) through pipes just
below the Earth's surface
➢ During winters - the pump brings heat to the building from the water or refrigerant below that
absorbs warmth
➢ During summers, some of the heat pumps can run in reverse and help cool down buildings
 How It Works - Power Generation

1. From deep underground, through a well

under high pressure hot water is being
pumped
2. The water reaches the surface, then the
pressure is dropped,causing the water
to turn into steam
3. Then the steam spins a turbine, that is
connected to a generator which
produces electricity
4. In a cooling tower the steam cools off
and then condenses back to water
5. The cooled water gets pumped back
into the Earth, so that the process can
Courtesy of Global Climate Change
restart again
 How It Works - Building Heat Pump
1. A refrigerant or some water moves through a
loop of pipes
2. In cold weather, the water or refrigerant heats
up as it is traveling through the part of the loop
that is buried underground
3. As it goes back above ground, the warmed
refrigerant or water is transferring heat into the
building
4. After the heat is transferred, the water or
refrigerant cools down, and then is pumped
back underground and heats up again
restarting the process
5. Hot days - the system can run in reverse, the
water or refrigerant cools the building down
and then is pumped underground where the
Courtesy of Global Climate Change
extra heat is transferred around the pipes in
the ground
Where is this already in use?

- US - California known as “The Geysers” includes 22 plants

- Indonesia - Gunung Salak Facility has world’s largest capacity

- Philippines

- Turkey

- New Zealand

- Mexico

- Italy

Courtesy of Think Geoenergy

What are the environmental costs/concerns? economic
costs/concerns?
❖ Environmental
➢ The geothermal energy that is removed from the ground causes the release of
greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, methane
➢ These greenhouse gasses are emitted only when the plants are originally installed
➢ Geothermal plants and pumps remove water and steam from reservoirs within the earth
❖ Economic
➢ Disadvantage - high initial cost for individual households, takes many years to pay off
➢ The initial cost for the field and power plant is around $2500 per installed kW in the U.S.

➢ About $3000 to $5000/kWe for a small (<1Mwe) power plant

➢ Operating and maintenance costs range from $0.01 to $0.03 per kWh
➢ Lack of funding from canadian government
What is the viability of this as an option for us?

- BC Hydro identified 16 potential sites in BC (could product over 1000 megawatts)

- Best potential would be the Meager Geothermal Project (55 km North of Pemberton)

- Potential locations; Pebble Creek (North Meager), Canoe Hot Springs (Valemont(, Mount

Cayley (Squamish), Lakelse Hot Springs (Prince Rupert), etc.

What are your conclusions about the prospects of
this source of energy?
- Clean - Most of the greenhouse gasses
created by geothermal energy come
from when the plants are first installed
- Cheap - Geothermal energy is cheaper
than a lot of sources of energy,
especially considering that geothermal
energy is clean; the carbon cost is a lot
lower.
- Strong resources in Canada, especially
BC, as you don’t have to dig too deep to
reach hot groundwater
- High Risk in BC - Along the ring of
fire, of which BC is located on, the
risk of damage by seismic related
events is likely.
- High Upfront costs - it is relatively
inexpensive to keep geothermal
plants running and cheaper overall,
but it costs quite a bit to build them
alongside a lack of government
funding.
Citations
“Advantages and Disadvantages of Geothermal Energy - The Source of Renewable Heat.” United Kingdom,
www.greenmatch.co.uk/blog/2014/04/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-geothermal-energy.

Alexander Richter 27 Jan 2020, and Alexander Richter. “The Top 10 Geothermal Countries 2019 – Based on Installed Generation Capacity (MWe).” Think
GeoEnergy - Geothermal Energy News, www.thinkgeoenergy.com/the-top-10-geothermal-countries-2019-based-on-installed-generation-capacity-mwe/.

“Geothermal Energy – What Is It, Where Is It, and How Do We Capture It?” Enbridge Inc., www.enbridge.com/energy-matters/energy-school/geothermal.

“Geothermal Energy.” EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, archive.epa.gov/climatechange/kids/solutions/technologies/geothermal.html.

“Geothermal Power BC.” Clean Energy BC, www.cleanenergybc.org/about/clean-energy-sectors/geothermal.

Mims, Christopher. “Can Geothermal Power Compete with Coal on Price?” Scientific American, Scientific American, 2 Mar. 2009,
www.scientificamerican.com/article/can-geothermal-power-compete-with-coal-on-price/.

The Narwhal. “Top 5 Reasons Why Geothermal Power Is Nowhere in Canada.” The Narwhal, 27 Feb. 2014,
thenarwhal.ca/top-5-reasons-why-geothermal-power-nowhere-canada/.

“Profiling the Top Geothermal Power Producing Countries in the World.” NS Energy, 8 Jan. 2020,
www.nsenergybusiness.com/features/top-geothermal-power-producing-countries/.

Unwin, Jack. “What Is Geothermal Energy?” Power Technology@2x, 3 Nov. 2020, www.power-technology.com/features/what-is-geothermal-energy/.
Thank You!