Have you ever seen a hot spring explode with water? Or have you seen images of volcanoes erupting with fiery hot magma? These are amazing natural occurrences that all happen because of heat from the Earth’s inner core.

This heat is generated from as much as 4,000 miles below the Earth’s surface, and the temperatures can reach up to 700 degrees. Even though this heat is extremely hot and can cause natural disasters, one way we can use this effectively is to create geothermal power.

What is geothermal energy?

Geothermal energy is energy generated from the heat beneath the Earth’s surface. It is a renewable energy because it is continuously replenished by rainfall that seeps into the Earth.

How is geothermal energy created?

The Earth basically has several layers in its core. The very center is the inner core, and it has an outer core that is surrounded by magma. Magma is the hot melted rock that erupts from volcanoes. A mantle surrounds both the inner and outer core. Finally, the crust is the outermost layer of the Earth that has water and land on it.

The Earth’s crust is surrounded by plates, and when certain mantle rocks melt they become magma. This magma starts to rise to the Earth’s crust, generating heat from below. When the magma reaches the surface it becomes lava, like out of a volcano. But when it stays below the surface it remains trapped.

How does geothermal energy create electricity?

Geothermal power is created by turbine generators that use the steam, heat and hot water from geothermal reservoirs to create electricity. The water that is not used is then returned back to the reservoir and kept heated.

What is geothermal power used for?

Thousands of years ago geothermal energy was use for heating water, cooking food and bathing. Today geothermal heat is used for:

• Space heating for homes and office buildings
• Growing crops
• Drying lumber
• Swimming pools
• Health spas
• Breeding fish and shrimp
• Greenhouses

What are the benefits of geothermal energy?

Here are some benefits of using geothermal power:

• Conserves fossil fuels
• Does not produce greenhouse emissions
• Uses little land space
• Avoids the importing of foreign oil
• It’s a renewable resource
• It’s free

Geothermal energy is used in a variety of different ways to produce heat and electricity. You can learn more about geothermal energy and resources at the Geothermal Education Office website.