How It Works (read bottom post first)

OK. So now that you know what Geothermal Energy is, how does it work? I'll tell you. You remember how in my last post I told you about the earth's core building up water pressure? Well here's how it all goes down. A geothermal power plant is similar to a regular power plant except it doesn't burn any fuel or or kill wildlife. The heated water (already hot from the earth's crust) is pushed into a turbine. The force of the water spins a blade and the shaft from the turbine is connected to a generator. The spinning blade spins a another blade around with some magnets creating an electric field thus creating electricity. The water is then cooled and pumped back into the ground to be heated and used again.

What's Geothermal Energy?

Modern energy uses are running out. We could run out of oil in as little as 40 years and natural gas after that. Other energy sources aren't very sufficient. What does that mean? We need to find a a more sufficient energy source. The answer? Geothermal Energy. What's that you ask? Geothermal Energy comes from the Greek words geo (earth) and therme (heat). It comes from heat generated from the earth's core. The heat (which increases 3 degrees Celsius every 382 feet) makes rocks extremely hot. Water then finds its way to the rocks and turns into boiling hot water and steam. It can reach more that 3000 degrees F. It is defiantly hotter than the boiling point of water but it doesn't turn into steam because there is no air under all that rock. Then the water has to find a way out. It usually leeks through a crack in the earth's surface or explodes. Some natural examples of this is geysers, volcanoes ( though technically not water), and hot springs. Scientists have figured out how to use this to their advantages by making energy.