"building in the world to utilize geothermal energy as its primary heat source was the Hot Lake Hotel in Union County, Oregon, whose construction was completed in 1907. A deep geothermal well was used to heat greenhouses in Boise in 1926, and geysers were used to heat greenhouses in Iceland and Tuscany at about the same time. Charlie Lieb developed the first downhole heat exchanger in 1930 to heat his house. Steam and hot water from geysers began heating homes in Iceland starting in 1943. In the 20th century, demand for electricity led to the consideration of geothermal power as"
"five countries (El Salvador, Kenya, the Philippines, Iceland, and Costa Rica) generate more than 15% of their electricity from geothermal sources. Geothermal electricity is generated in the 24 countries listed in the table below. During 2005, contracts were placed for an additional 500 MW of electrical capacity in the United States, while there were also stations under construction in 11 other countries. Enhanced geothermal systems that are several kilometres in depth are operational in France and Germany and are being developed or evaluated in at least four other countries. Fluids drawn from the deep earth carry a mixture of gases,"
"Based on current geologic knowledge and technology the GEA publicly discloses, the Geothermal Energy Association (GEA) estimates that only 6.9 percent of total global potential has been tapped so far, while the IPCC reported geothermal power potential to be in the range of 35 GW to 2 TW. Countries generating more than 15 percent of their electricity from geothermal sources include El Salvador, Kenya, the Philippines, Iceland, New Zealand and Costa Rica. Geothermal power is considered to be a sustainable, renewable source of energy because the heat extraction is small compared with the Earth's heat content. The greenhouse gas emissions"
"Geothermal heating Geothermal heating is the direct use of geothermal energy for some heating applications. Humans have taken advantage of geothermal heat this way since the Paleolithic era. Approximately seventy countries made direct use of a total of 270 PJ of geothermal heating in 2004. As of 2007, 28 GW of geothermal heating capacity is installed around the world, satisfying 0.07% of global primary energy consumption. Thermal efficiency is high since no energy conversion is needed, but capacity factors tend to be low (around 20%) since the heat is mostly needed in the winter. Geothermal energy originates from the heat"
"Geothermal heat pumps tap into the ground to use this resource as a source of energy. The production of geothermal energy is a clean and sustainable form of energy. There are currently no geothermal energy practices in South Africa but there are projects underway to implement them. Geothermal measurements have been made throughout South Africa, demonstrating that there is high geothermal potential and that the relevant temperatures rank from medium to high on the global scale. The South African energy sector is dominated by the company Eskom. Eskom currently produces 95% of South Africa's electricity. Due to their large presence"
"to as much as 6,000 GW. Geothermal power capacity grew from around 1 GW in 1975 to almost 10 GW in 2008. The United States is the world leader in terms of installed capacity, representing 3.1 GW. Other countries with significant installed capacity include the Philippines (1.9 GW), Indonesia (1.2 GW), Mexico (1.0 GW), Italy (0.8 GW), Iceland (0.6 GW), Japan (0.5 GW), and New Zealand (0.5 GW). In some countries, geothermal power accounts for a significant share of the total electricity supply, such as in the Philippines, where geothermal represented 17 percent of the total power mix at the"
"Geothermal power Geothermal power is power generated by geothermal energy. Technologies in use include dry steam power stations, flash steam power stations and binary cycle power stations. Geothermal electricity generation is currently used in 24 countries, while geothermal heating is in use in 70 countries. As of 2015, worldwide geothermal power capacity amounts to 12.8 gigawatts (GW), of which 28 percent or 3,548 megawatts are installed in the United States. International markets grew at an average annual rate of 5 percent over the three years to 2015, and global geothermal power capacity is expected to reach 14.5–17.6 GW by 2020."
"overheating. Alternatively, the stored energy can be used for cooling buildings. The system was developed in the Netherlands and has been licensed by Ullapool-based Invisible Energy Systems, who have installed the technology in their car park. Geothermal energy is obtained by tapping the heat of the earth itself. Most systems in Scotland provide heating through a ground source heat pump which brings energy to the surface via shallow pipe works. An example is the Glenalmond Street project in Shettleston, which uses a combination of solar and geothermal energy to heat 16 houses. Water in a coal mine below ground level"
"requires very hot underground temperatures near the surface to generate steam which is used in a low temperature steam plant. Geothermal power is only used in a few areas. Italy supplies all of the electrified rail network with geothermal power. Electricity production from solar energy either directly through photovoltaic cells or indirectly such as by producing steam to drive a steam turbine generator. While electrification of cities and homes has existed since the late 19th century even today about 1.3 billion people lack electricity, mostly in Africa and the Indian subcontinent. One estimate (2010) suggests that as many as half"
"areas: for example, 14 percent in the US state of Iowa, 40 percent in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, and 20 percent in Denmark. Solar water heating makes an important and growing contribution in many countries, most notably in China, which now has 70 percent of the global total (180 GWth). Worldwide, total installed solar water heating systems meet a portion of the water heating needs of over 70 million households. The use of biomass for heating continues to grow as well. In Sweden, national use of biomass energy has surpassed that of oil. Direct geothermal heating is also"
"were under consideration, often in areas previously assumed to have little exploitable resource. In 2010, the United States led the world in geothermal electricity production with 3,086 MW of installed capacity from 77 power stations; the largest group of geothermal power plants in the world is located at The Geysers, a geothermal field in California. The Philippines follows the US as the second highest producer of geothermal power in the world, with 1,904 MW of capacity online; geothermal power makes up approximately 27% of the country's electricity generation. Al Gore said in The Climate Project Asia Pacific Summit that Indonesia"
"the number of watts added). More than 30,000 small solar panels, each producing 12 to 30 watts, are sold in Kenya annually. Kenya was the first African country to use geothermal power, and still has the largest installed capacity of geothermal power in Africa at 200 MW, with a potential of up to 10 GW. In 2009, about 1.4 billion of people in the world lived without electricity, and 2.7 billion relied on wood, charcoal, and dung for home energy requirements. This lack of access to modern energy technology limits income generation, blunts efforts to escape poverty, affects people's health,"
"power plants. The largest group of geothermal power plants in the world is located at The Geysers, a geothermal field in California. The Philippines is the second highest producer, with 1,904 MW of capacity online. Geothermal power makes up approximately 27% of Philippine electricity generation. In 2016, Indonesia set in third with 1,647 MW online behind USA at 3,450 MW and the Philippines at 1,870 MW, but Indonesia will become second due to an additional online 130 MW at the end of 2016 and 255 MW in 2017. Indonesia's 28,994 MW are the largest geothermal reserves in the world, and"
"largest installed capacity of geothermal power in Africa at 200 MW, with a potential of up to 10 GW. The only other country in Africa utilising geothermal power is Ethiopia. Kenya is the world leader in the number of solar power systems installed per capita (but not the number of watts added). More than 30,000 small solar panels, each producing 12 to 30 watts, are sold in Kenya annually. For an investment of as little as $100 for the panel and wiring, the PV system can be used to charge a car battery, which can then provide power to run"
"used in Iceland comes from geothermal sources. Geothermal power is used for many things in Iceland. 57.4% of the energy is used for space heat, 25% is used for electricity, and the remaining amount is used in many miscellaneous areas such as swimming pools, fish farms, and greenhouses. The government of Iceland has played a major role in the advancement of geothermal energy. In the 1940s the State Electricity Authority was started by the government in order to increase the knowledge of geothermal resources and the utilization of geothermal power in Iceland. The agency's name was later changed to the"
"often in areas previously assumed to have little exploitable resource. In 2010, the United States led the world in geothermal electricity production with 3,086 MW of installed capacity from 77 power plants; the largest group of geothermal power plants in the world is located at The Geysers, a geothermal field in California. The Philippines follows the US as the second highest producer of geothermal power in the world, with 1,904 MW of capacity online; geothermal power makes up approximately 18% of the country's electricity generation. Renewable energy technology has sometimes been seen as a costly luxury item by critics, and"
"world in the geothermal sector. With 1.3 GW installed capacity, Indonesia trails only the United States (3.4 GW) and the Philippines (1.9 GW). However it leads Mexico (1.0 GW), Italy (0.9 GW), New Zealand (0.8 GW), Iceland (0.7 GW), and Japan (0.5 GW). In recent years, the Indonesian Government has announced plans for two 'fast-track' increases in the total capacity of Indonesia's electricity generation network of 10,000 MW each. Under the second 10,000 MW fast-track plan it was forecast that a relatively large share of 3,970 MW would be installed in geothermal plants. But under the first 10,000 MW fast-track"
"could become a super power country in electricity production from geothermal energy. India has announced a plan to develop the country's first geothermal power facility in Chhattisgarh. Canada is the only major country on the Pacific Ring of Fire which has not yet developed geothermal power. The region of greatest potential is the Canadian Cordillera, stretching from British Columbia to the Yukon, where estimates of generating output have ranged from 1,550 MW to 5,000 MW. The largest group of geothermal power plants in the world is located at The Geysers, a geothermal field in California, United States. As of 2004,"
"end of 2008. Geothermal (ground source) heat pumps represented an estimated 30 GWth of installed capacity at the end of 2008, with other direct uses of geothermal heat (i.e., for space heating, agricultural drying and other uses) reaching an estimated 15 GWth. , at least 76 countries use direct geothermal energy in some form. Second-generation technologies have gone from being a passion for the dedicated few to a major economic sector in countries such as Germany, Spain, the United States, and Japan. Many large industrial companies and financial institutions are involved and the challenge is to broaden the market base"
"Geothermal power in Romania Geothermal energy in Romania is mainly located, in the western part of the country, in the Banat region and the western part of the Apuseni Mountains with the most important source located in the Bihor County especially around the city of Oradea, that has been using geothermal energy for more than a hundred years. Theoretically Romania has the third highest potential geothermal capacity in Europe after Greece and Italy. The direct-use heating has been mostly district heating serving 5,500 residences in Oradea and the city of Beiuş is the only city in Romania entirely heated by"
"neglected. In some system also geothermal energy and solar energy are used in the energy mix of those systems. For example Paris has been using geothermal heating from a 55-70 °C source 1–2 km below the surface since the 1970s for domestic heating. Currently, the 4th generation is being developed, with the transition to 4th generation already in process in Denmark. The 4th generation is designed to combat climate change and integrate high shares of variable renewable energy into the district heating by providing high flexibility to the electricity system. According to the review by Lund et al. those systems"
"energy from shallow sources at 10–20 °C in 43 countries for use in space heating and cooling. Home heating is the fastest-growing means of exploiting geothermal energy, with global annual growth rate of 30% in 2005 and 20% in 2012. Approximately 270 petajoules (PJ) of geothermal heating was used in 2004. More than half went for space heating, and another third for heated pools. The remainder supported industrial and agricultural applications. Global installed capacity was 28 GW, but capacity factors tend to be low (30% on average) since heat is mostly needed in winter. Some 88 PJ for space heating"
"of all houses in Iceland are heated with geothermal energy. In 2015, the total electricity consumption in Iceland was 18,798 GWh. Renewable energy provided almost 100% of electricity production, with about 73% coming from hydropower and 27% from geothermal power. Most of the hydropower plants are owned by Landsvirkjun (the National Power Company) which is the main supplier of electricity in Iceland. Iceland is the world's largest green energy producer per capita and largest electricity producer per capita, with approximately 55,000 kWh per person per year. In comparison, the EU average is less than 6,000 kWh. Iceland's unique geology allows"
"crude oil and natural gas. This might change with the discovery of oil reserves in Kenya, which relied on oil imports to meet about 42 percent of its energy needs in 2010. As of the end of June 2016, 55% of Kenyans were connected to the National grid, which is one of the highest connection rates in Sub-Saharan Africa. Per capita consumption in domestic households however, remains low. Kenya is currently the largest producer of geothermal energy in Africa. It is one of two countries in Africa that produce geothermal energy, the other being Ethiopia. In 2010, geothermal accounted for"
"transformation of the mineral anhydrite (anhydrous calcium sulphate) into gypsum (hydrous calcium sulphate). A pre-condition for this transformation is that the anhydrite is in contact with water, which is then stored in its crystalline structure. Geothermal heating Geothermal heating is the direct use of geothermal energy for some heating applications. Humans have taken advantage of geothermal heat this way since the Paleolithic era. Approximately seventy countries made direct use of a total of 270 PJ of geothermal heating in 2004. As of 2007, 28 GW of geothermal heating capacity is installed around the world, satisfying 0.07% of global primary energy"
"and hotter than 150 °C can supply Australia’s total energy requirement for 26000 years. South Australia and Tasmania, where the granite basement rocks are suitable, are the main locations where geothermal energy is being developed in Australia. Sedimentary style geothermal resources have also been located near the south Victorian coastline stretching across South Australia. Geothermal energy has already been utilized commercially at two South Australian locations. Birdsville generates geothermal electricity from the hot water from the great artesian basin there, and a geothermal district heating scheme at Portland has been in use for the last twenty years, supplied by the"
"its full potential energy output for lack of experience in its operation. Zambia has several sites planned for construction but their projects have stalled due to lack of funds. Eritrea, Djibouti and Uganda have undertaken preliminary exploration for potential geothermal sources but have not constructed any type of power plant. Geothermal power has been used in agricultural projects in Africa. The Oserian flower farm in Kenya utilizes several steam wells abandoned by Kengen to power its greenhouse. In addition, the heat involved in the geothermal process is used to maintain stable greenhouse temperatures. The heat can also be utilized in"
"heat and piped hot water for 238,000 households and 7,000 companies. With 95% of all housing (mostly in the capital of Reykjavík) enjoying district heating services – mainly from geothermal energy, Iceland is the country with the highest penetration of district heating. Most of Iceland's district heating comes from three geothermal power plants, producing over 800 MWth: The Dublin Waste-to-Energy Plant will provide district heating for up to 50,000 homes in Poolbeg and surrounding areas. Tralee in Co Kerry has a 1 MW district heating system providing heat to an apartment complex, sheltered housing for the elderly, a library and"
"convecting upward since it is lighter than the surrounding rock. Rock and water is heated in the crust, sometimes up to 370 °C (700 °F). From hot springs, geothermal energy has been used for bathing since Paleolithic times and for space heating since ancient Roman times, but it is now better known for electricity generation. Worldwide, 11,400 megawatts (MW) of geothermal power is online in 24 countries in 2012. An additional 28 gigawatts of direct geothermal heating capacity is installed for district heating, space heating, spas, industrial processes, desalination and agricultural applications in 2010. Geothermal power is cost effective, reliable,"
"nations are installing hydropower at a rapid pace. This growth is driven by much increased energy costs—especially for imported energy—and widespread desires for more domestically produced, clean, renewable, and economical generation. Geothermal power plants can operate 24 hours per day, providing base-load capacity, and the world potential capacity for geothermal power generation is estimated at 85 GW over the next 30 years. However, geothermal power is accessible only in limited areas of the world, including the United States, Central America, East Africa, Iceland, Indonesia, and the Philippines. The costs of geothermal energy have dropped substantially from the systems built in"
"owned by Calpine, with a total generating capacity of 725 MW. Geothermal power Geothermal power is power generated by geothermal energy. Technologies in use include dry steam power stations, flash steam power stations and binary cycle power stations. Geothermal electricity generation is currently used in 24 countries, while geothermal heating is in use in 70 countries. As of 2015, worldwide geothermal power capacity amounts to 12.8 gigawatts (GW), of which 28 percent or 3,548 megawatts are installed in the United States. International markets grew at an average annual rate of 5 percent over the three years to 2015, and global"
"Geothermal power in New Zealand Geothermal power in New Zealand is a small but significant part of the energy generation capacity of the country, providing approximately 13% of the country's electricity with installed capacity of 854 MW. New Zealand, like only a small number of other countries worldwide, has numerous geothermal sites that could be developed for exploitation, and also boasts some of the earliest large-scale use of geothermal energy in the world. Geothermal energy has been described as New Zealand's most reliable renewable energy source, above wind, solar and even hydroelectricity, due to its lack of dependence on the"
"Despite this, poor management, high population density, and environmental consciousness have resulted in these mineral resources remaining largely untapped. Geothermal energy is a product of volcanic activity that the Philippines has harnessed more successfully. The Philippines is the world's second-biggest geothermal producer behind the United States, with 18% of the country's electricity needs being met by geothermal power. The Philippines' rainforests and its extensive coastlines make it home to a diverse range of birds, plants, animals, and sea creatures. It is one of the ten most biologically megadiverse countries. Around 1,100 land vertebrate species can be found in the Philippines"