User:Ripsonpaulman6/sandbox

Introduction
Geothermal energy is created from the heat released from inside the Earth. It is created by harnessing the powers of the heat that breaches the surface and transforming that into power.

Geothermal Energy is used in many places, In 2000 21 countries were generating Geothermal Energy. They were: Australia, China, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Ethiopia, France, Guatemala, Iceland, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Philippines, Portugal, Russia, Thailand, Turkey, United States. By 2005 3 more countries had started using Geothermal Energy These Were: Austria, Germany and Papua New Guinea.

Many Countries use Geothermal Energy, it is a very reliable source and it can be used for many things.

History
The history of geothermal energy use traces back tens of thousands of years around the globe. In times pre-dating modern western civilization, indigenous peoples used hot water from springs for cooking, cleaning, and bathing. These springs served as a source of warmth and their minerals as a source of healing. Archaeological evidence shows that the first human use of geothermal resources in North America occurred more than 10,000 years ago with the settlement of Paleo-Indians around hot springs.

The first known commercial use of geothermal energy in the United States occurred in Hot Springs, Arkansas, where, in 1830, Asa Thompson charged one dollar each for the use of three spring-fed baths in a wooden tub. Within the next twenty years, more resorts and spas of increasing size would grow up around such springs. In 1892, the world's first district heating came online in Boise, Idaho, eventually growing to serve 200 homes and 40 downtown businesses. This heating was powered by Geothermal energy. In the early 1900s, the first instance of geothermal electric power emerged. In Italy, Prince Piero Ginori Conti invented the first geothermal power plant in 1904 at the Larderello dry steam field and it is still in operation today. By the 1990s, the Department Of Electricity in America identified over 9000 thermal wells and springs and 271 communities connected to geothermal energy. Modern Day: Modern non-electrical use of geothermal energy continues. For instance, beginning in the 1960’s the Maoris of New Zealand have used geothermal energy for cooking. France and many other European Union nations are using geothermal heated water to heat thousands of homes. Modern use of geothermal energy is characterized by increasingly more organized commercial and industrial ventures from spas and resorts in the early 1800s to the eventual development of electricity production and geothermal heat pumps.

Function
This Power function by capturing the Heat from inside the Earth that Escape’s the Earth’s crust. Underneath the Earth’s crust exists Magma which is always attaining heat from the decay of naturally Radioactive materials. The amount of heat within 10,000 meters of Earth's surface/soil contains 50,000 times more energy than all the oil and natural gas resources in the world. So obviously this source is reliable. The most common way of capturing the energy from geothermal sources is to link into naturally occurring "hydrothermal convection" systems where cooler water seeps into Earth's crust, is heated up, and then rises to the surface. When heated water is forced to the surface, it is a pretty easy to capture that steam and use it to drive electric generators. Geothermal power plants drill their own holes into the rock to more effectively capture the steam. There are three designs for geothermal power plants, all of which are designed to pull hot water and steam from the ground, use it, and then return it as warm water to extend the life of the heat source. In the simplest design called the Dry Steam cycle, the steam goes directly through the turbine, then into a condenser where the steam is condensed into water. The Other two design are based on the same principle and are called The Binary Cycle and The Flash Steam Cycle.

Summary
In Summary, Geothermal power is a reliable and renewable energy source which is already creating electricity to be used in many ways. The good thing about Geothermal energy is that, unlike other renewable energy sources it is extremely reliable and there is a lot of this resource (magma) so this resource could be produced in high quantities.