Geothermal College Essays Samples For Students

Introduction

Geothermal energy is a source of energy that has become very common as a sustainable energy source in numerous countries across the world. Geothermal energy owes its origin to volcanic activity that occurs in the earth’s core and mantle. Rain water or water form surface runoff may collect in underground reservoirs of water. The volcanic activity below such reservoirs heats the water. The water is normally trapped such that it cannot escape. This leads to build up of a lot of pressure causing it to become superheated. Eventually, the water rises to the surface through fault lines on the rocks.

Practical Applications of Geothermal Energy

Engineers ...

MEM 695

Abstract
The purpose of this research paper is to introduce the different types of energy resources utilized worldwide. This paper discusses the history of the different resources used, starting with the utilization of conventional fossil fuel based technologies, the emergence of nuclear power and finally, the commercialization of renewable energy resources. The main objective of this research paper is to provide an insight on how these energy sources are accessed, utilized, distributed and developed. The paper also seeks to impact of the utilization of these various energy resources on the environment, especially the effect of continued utilization of ...

Stand-alone Power Supply and Heating Systems

An individual’s carbon footprint is mainly decided by energy consumed to run various household appliances and energy used for home heating. Electric power supplied to grid-connected households is mostly derived from fossil fuels, and thus leads to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, homes in remote areas cannot afford grid power supply, and they use renewable natural sources available to them such as solar power, wind power, hydroelectric power or geothermal energy. Even, houses that can be connected to the power grid can opt for stand-alone power systems to reduce GHG emissions.
Most common form of off-grid power system ...

Electrical power in New Zealand is generated majorly from renewable energy sources such as wind, geothermal and hydropower. Renewable energy sources contribute 75% of the total power generated in the country. As a result, New Zealand has one of the greenest energy infrastructures in the world. Energy demand in the country has been steadily rising by an annual margin of 2.1% from 1974 to 2010. However, energy demand fell by a margin of 1.2% in the period spanning from 2010 to 2013. New Zealand is above average in global energy intensity ratings. However, it has also been ranked among ...

Introduction

Since 1990’s, the European Union as a whole and each of the participating countries have continued to implement various initiatives in the area of climate change. In the early 2000, the European Union launched the European Climate Change Programmes (ECCP) where collaboration has been initiated with the industries, organizations for the protection of the environment and other concerned agencies. The purpose of co-operation - identify cost-effective measures is essentially to reduce CO2 emissions into the atmosphere.
The debate on climate change is actually divided into two major sides. One side argues that human activities contribute to the accumulation ...

Introduction

The concept of sustainable development was first introduced in 1987 by the United Nations as part of the Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development, in which it was stated that sustainable development implies “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (United Nations General Assembly, 1987).
The World Conservation Strategy published in 1980 served as prelude to the conception of this notion, as the UN recognized the importance of minimizing the impact of human activity over the earth’s ecosystems and adopting models inclined towards sustainability ...

It used to be so easy. For tens of thousands of years, humans used wood-burning fire to heat their dwellings, to cook their food, to forge simple tools. Tens of thousands of years before that, human’s ancestors harnessed the power of fire, giving them a hunting advantage over other animals. Then, the population started to increase, especially after the Plague had ravaged much of the world’s population. Wood became scarce, especially in places of dense population, such as England. The increasing rarity of the resource made the demand for another source of energy greater than the demand ...

Introduction

Renewable energy is energy obtained from resources that are replenished rapidly by natural processes (Kalogirou, 2013). These natural processes wind, sunshine, tides and waves, rain, geothermal power, and biological processes.

Environmental Impacts of Renewable Energy Sources

All energy sources including renewable energy sources have an effect on the environment. Wind turbines change air pressure and cause death of birds and bats from the collision with the turbines. Hazardous materials like hydrochloric and sulfuric acid are used in manufacturing and cleaning of photovoltaic cells used in solar panels. Open-loop geothermal power systems emit and release hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, and methane into the atmosphere. Hydrogen sulfide ...

Abstract

Generation of electricity using turbine technology is very popular around the globe since most of the processes such as hydro energy are clean and renewable. Additionally, some do not pose a huge threat in human life and the environment. The traditional method of using turbine technology is very popular and wanted in many countries due to the economical cost of building and maintaining the generation plant. Additionally, the turbine technology is more efficient. This is because it can employ a number of fossil fuels, water, geothermal energy or wind to generate electricity. Hence, the country has a greater variety to choose from ...

Geothermal power plant operates under various cycles: single flash steam cycle; double flash steam cycle; triple flash steam cycle; kalina cycle; and pure cycle power plant. These cycles are discussed below.

Single Flash Steam Cycle

Single flash steam cycle is as illustrated in figure 1.
Figure 1: Single flash steam cycle (source (Chegg))
The liquid is tapped from the production well. It is then flashed to a required pressure. The vapour separated from the liquid in the separation chamber is then passed to the turbine. The liquid from the condenser and separator is reinjected back to the well.

Double Flash Steam Cycle

This cycle has two ...

Introduction

The various disadvantages of relying on non-reliable sources of energy such as coal, oil and natural gas have made identification and exploitation of renewable energy sources popular. Non-renewable sources of the world are depleting, and their use has occasioned more harm to the environment than good, notably the greenhouse effect. This essay reviews the renewable energy sources and their advantages.

Renewable Energy Types

Renewable energy sources are infinite resources that are continuously replenished hence cannot be depleted. Renewable energy involves such things as plants an biomass, geothermal energy, sunlight, wind, ocean energy in form of tides and gases such as hydrogen (Renewable ...

The world is currently debating on creation of green jobs in an attempt to transit to low carbon economy. The world also aims at reducing reliance on fossil fuels and emission of greenhouse gas (Taylor 2011). 2007/2008 global economic crisis and climate change have necessitated creation of green jobs. Many organizations such as Climate Institute in Australia, Greenpeace & European Renewable Council, and the Australian Geothermal Energy Association & Carnegie Corporation Limited are optimistic that employment will increase significantly by the year 2020 (Cato 2009).

Green jobs are quality jobs that can sustain families, and help in improving the environment. They ...

The development of human society is inextricably linked to the use of our planet's natural resources, with the consumption of various types of energy in ever-increasing scale. All the achievements of modern civilization - a huge variety of goods, different in speed and comfort, transportation, space travel, etc., are possible thanks to the huge amount of artificial energy, which produces humanity.
The basis for the production of thermal and electric energy is the process of burning fossil fuels -coal, oil, gas. The scale of the production and consumption of fossil fuels, metals, water, air for the production of essential ...

Global warming is the rise in average global temperatures. The rise in global temperatures is occasioned by the emission of greenhouses gases such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane, and nitrogen oxides. The gases are released from industrial process that combust fossil fuels such as diesel, coal, and petrol. Such processes include generation of electrical energy in thermal power stations, burning of coal in industrial boilers, and combustion of fossil fuels in internal combustion engines. When these greenhouse gases are emitted, they rise to upper levels of the atmosphere and form a layer that blankets the earth. This layer ...

1. Introduction

The worlds electricity generation is about 17, 450 Twh. The most of which comes from coal and 20% of which comes from gas, and 16% of which comes from nuclear and hydro each. The coal is the carbon di oxide emitting substance per Kwh. The other pollutants are at the high levels. This substance continues to dominate the market with low cost and high availability. This substance continues to dominate the market with low cost and the high availability. This affects are not going to reduce the emission amount. The future investment is always needed to save the environment ...

SUMMARY

Because of the rising need for sustainable energy, different methods of developing new energy sources were made. These energy sources include, but are not limited to, bio-energy, unconventional oil and gas, wind energy, geothermal and solar energy. However, the mentioned energy sources were seen to have adverse effect on wildlife as well as natural habitat.
- Bio-energy
The development of bio-energy involves releasing carbon emissions which can aid in the green house effect. Bio-energy also brings about deforestation.
- Unconventional oil and gas development
Unconventional oil and gas development causes disintegration of natural ecosystems which ...

Green power is a subset of renewable energy and symbolises those renewable energy assets and technologies that give the most elevated environmental profit. It is electric energy delivered by renewable, even more naturally agreeable sources, prompting less negative air, water and regular asset sways. Average innovations used to make green power are sunlight based, wind, geothermal, biomass, and low-affect hydropower. Biomass incorporates landfill gas and farming squanders. USA Green Power potential sources are essentially geothermal; wind and sunlight based.
As per Robert, Americans are no doubt overpowered with cases about renewable energy options. Advocates for these innovations say that ...

Sustainable Use and Green Strategy

Sustainable Use and Green Strategy
In many building systems, high amount of energy is required in order to sustain its full operation. Most of these buildings are getting their power supplies from big electric companies. However, green building design may obtain its energy using alternative source. An example of green building design would me a strip mall with specific emphasis on storm-water drainage efficiency, along with the use of solar energy that has no emissions from its individual businesses. The purpose of this paper is to assess various energy systems such as wind turbines, geothermal, solar panels, and even ...

The continued prosperity and economic development of some countries e.g. the first world nations has traditionally been associated with growth in energy production and consumption. Ideally the use of energy is intended to enhance the quality of life.
It is becoming apparent that the production and consumption of energy is also responsible for an increasing deterioration of the environment. The imposition of air pollution standards has accelerated a shift in the use of fossil fuels towards those that have clean burning characteristics e.g. low sulphur oils and natural gasses. This in turn has led to worldwide and domestic scarcity ...

Environmental Science Unit #3

Law of Conservation

The law of conservation describes the way that energy is not lost or created but cycled through the energy system. That means that energy moves in a closed system unless energy is added or subtracted. Even though energy moves through a closed system it can be converted from one type of energy into a different type of energy. Kinetic energy is the amount of energy minus the potential energy. When a car sits at the top of a hill there is potential energy present, when the car gets shoved down the hill that is kinetic energy. Both geothermal and coal can ...

INTEGRATED SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

Question 1:

The Shewhart cycle also known as Deming model and the plan-do-check-act (PDCA) cycle. It is a continuous quality improvement model that is comprised of a logical sequence of the four monotonous steps to make continuous improvement and for learning. The model is considered a continuous feedback loop because it helps to identify and change the components of the process in order to reduce variation. The main aim of the cycle is to plan to do something, checking to evaluate the meeting of all requirements, and rectification of process to get desired results (Ledlow & Coppola, 2013). The four ...

Elimination of Subsidies for all Energy Alternatives

I agree with the proposal to eliminate government subsidies for all energy alternatives so that all energy providers can compete in a free market economy. My rationale for agreeing with this proposal is that providing subsidies is a retrogressive economic policy that allows the government to prop one sector of the energy industry at the expense of other sectors. Rather than foster competition, government subsidies will give alternative energy investors unfair price advantages over other energy providers. Moreover, subsidies will cause the alternative energy sector to become less cost competitive and encourage unhealthy dependency on preferential treatment from the ...

Mechanical Engineering is a branch in the field of science that encompasses a large field of designing and manufacturing small individual parts and devices, as well as large systems. The branch is at the heart of moving products from ideas to the marketplace. The branch of engineering involves creating products that will withstand different forces and the thermal environment to ensure they function properly. It entails the design, manufacturing, analysis and maintenance of mechanical systems using principles of materials science and physics. Mechanical engineering is not only concerned about functionality of products but also about aesthetics too. In its broad application ...

Introduction

Physics refers to the branch of science that primarily deals with nature and properties of matter and energy. Its key components are heat, mechanics, light, sound, magnetism, structural orientation of atoms, and electricity. Any technology we use in our daily lives has a relation to physics. Physics is more of the backbone for most daily life activities. Examples include electric light in our homes, cell phones, , computer, CD player plasma TV set, wrist watches, radio, and working of our vehicles.
Physics plays a key role in the production of energy. These various energies are then transformed into electricity for eventual ...

ID Number

Introduction

The human race is faced with a big challenge – the challenge to survive and adapt amidst the pressing concerns of climate change. It is projected that in the future the pressing concerns related to climate change will intensify. Climate change and global warming are frequently used interchangeably, however there is a distinction between these two terms. Global warming is the general increased in the temperature on the earth’s surface. Climate change is the outcome of this increased in temperature (Change, 2007). Individuals and organizations should be aware of this man-made phenomena and its effect to the civilization so ...

The law in question goes on to address the surmounting national concern regarding the effects of hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” on the environment and the communities of the land. It has to be taken into consideration that hydraulic fracturing is quite a risky venture and is controversial to a large extent. In this process, the well simulation treatment is used to increase the oil and gas production. According to the SB4, the California Division of Oil Gas and Geothermal Resources has been directed to undertake elaborate regulations for hydraulic fracturing. Additional regulators have to be consulted which include fracking fluid chemical ...

Introduction

Implementation of renewable energy will work towards strengthening the economy and reduce the greenhouse gas emissions. There is need for developing carbon free sources of energy that are friendly to the environment and sustains a viable economy. The types of renewable sources of energy will include: solar energy, wind energy and the use of biomass fuels among others.

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom government had previously made an effort to sustain and provide energy through signing an agreement with the EU in March 2007. The agreement allows the EU to supply 20% of the UK’s energy from renewable resources and cut ...

Dear Editor:

If you saw a small child in ruffled swimsuit with fully inflated blue and flowered float tube encircling her waist about to jump into the sewage water storage tank for an afternoon of swimming fun, you would certainly stop her, wouldn't you? For the same reason, it is ridiculous for us to simply turn our heads away from efforts to permit unregulated 'clean' coal operations in our county.
One of the party objectives of the Riley County Republicans is to encourage so-called clean coal as part of the state's energy plan in addition to nuclear, wind and geothermal. The ...

I have nursed a key interest in engineering since my earlier days as a juvenile. As an apprentice of my father, a petroleum engineer, I was fascinated by his exposes on advances in technology, especially in the petroleum engineering field. When narrating his stories, he would always attach a societal perspective to the many inventions and innovations he told of. According to him, advancements in technology were solutions to problems that dogged the society. He painted engineers as supremely endearing people who had the interests of the society at heart. As a curious child growing up, I was consumed with the notion of making ...