The rapid growth of energy consumption, the limited nature of non-renewable natural resources, make us think about the use of alternative energy sources. In this regard, the use of geothermal resources deserves special attention.
Geothermal power plants (GeoES) are facilities for generating electrical energy from the natural heat of the Earth.Geothermal energy has more than a century of history. In July 1904, the first experiment was carried out in the Italian town of Larderello, which made it possible to obtain electricity from geothermal steam. A few years later, the first geothermal power plant was launched here, which is still operating.
For the construction of geothermal power plants, areas with geological activity are considered ideal, where natural heat is located at a relatively shallow depth.
This includes areas abounding in geysers, open thermal springs with water heated by volcanoes. It is here that geothermal energy is developing most actively.
However, even in seismically inactive regions there are layers of the earth's crust, the temperature of which is more than 100 °C.
For every 36 meters of depth, the temperature index increases by 1 °C. In this case, a well is drilled and water is pumped into it.
The output is boiling water and steam, which can be used both for space heating and for the production of electrical energy.
There are many areas where you can get energy in this way, so geothermal power plants operate everywhere.
Extraction of natural heat can be carried out from the following sources.
Today, there are three ways to generate electricity using geothermal means, depending on the state of the medium (water or steam) and the temperature of the rock.
The indirect method is by far the most common. It uses underground water with a temperature of about 182 ° C, which is pumped into generators located on the surface.
The largest GeoPPs have been built in the USA and the Philippines. They are entire geothermal complexes, consisting of dozens of individual geothermal stations.
The Geysers complex, located in California, is considered the most powerful. It consists of 22 two stations with a total capacity of 725 MW, sufficient to provide a multi-million city.Russian geothermal energy began its development in 1954, when it was adopted 
decision to establish a laboratory for the study of natural thermal resources in Kamchatka.
Large levels of hydrocarbon production in the 1970s, the critical economic situation in the 90s stopped the development of geothermal energy in Russia. However, now interest in it has reappeared for a number of reasons:
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The most promising regions of the Russian Federation in terms of using thermal energy to generate electricity are 
Kuril Islands and Kamchatka.
There are such potential geothermal resources in Kamchatka with volcanic reserves of steam-hydrotherms and energetic thermal waters that are able to meet the needs of the region for 100 years. The Mutnovskoye field is considered promising, the known reserves of which can provide up to 300 MW of electricity. The history of the development of this area began with geo-exploration, resource assessment, design and construction of the first Kamchatka GeoPPs (Pauzhetskaya and Paratunskaya), as well as Verkhne-Mutnovskaya geothermal station with a capacity of 12 MW and Mutnovskaya, with a capacity of 50 MW.
There are two power plants operating on the Kuril Islands that use geothermal energy - on the island of Kunashir (2.6 MW) and on the island of Iturup (6 MW).
In comparison with the energy resources of individual Philippine and American GeoPPs, domestic alternative energy production facilities lose significantly: their total capacity does not exceed 90 MW. But Kamchatka's power plants, for example, provide the region's needs for electricity by 25%, which, in the event of unforeseen interruptions in the supply of fuel, will not allow the inhabitants of the peninsula to be left without electricity.
In Russia, there are all opportunities for the development of geothermal resources, both petrothermal and hydrogeothermal. However, they are used very little, and there are more than enough promising areas. In addition to the Kuriles and Kamchatka, practical application is possible in the North Caucasus, Western Siberia, Primorye, Baikal, the Okhotsk-Chukotka volcanic belt.
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There is a great treasure in the bowels of the earth. This is not gold, not silver and not precious stones - this is a huge store of geothermal energy.
Most of this energy is stored in layers of molten rock called magma. The heat of the Earth is a real treasure, because it is a clean source of energy, and it has advantages over the energy of oil, gas and atom.
Deep underground, temperatures reach hundreds and even thousands of degrees Celsius. It is estimated that the amount of underground heat coming to the surface every year, in terms of megawatt-hours, is 100 billion. This is many times the amount of electricity consumed worldwide. What strength! However, it is not easy to tame her.
How to get to the treasure
Some heat is in the soil, even close to the Earth's surface. It can be extracted using heat pumps connected to underground pipes. The energy of the earth's interior can be used both for heating houses in winter and for other purposes. People living near hot springs or in areas where active geological processes are taking place have found other ways to use the heat of the Earth. In ancient times, the Romans, for example, used the heat of hot springs for baths.
But most of the heat is concentrated under the earth's crust in a layer called the mantle. The average thickness of the earth's crust is 35 kilometers, and modern drilling technologies do not allow penetrating to such a depth. However, the earth's crust consists of numerous plates, and in some places, especially at their junction, it is thinner. In these places, magma rises closer to the surface of the Earth and heats the water trapped in the rock layers. These layers usually lie at a depth of only two to three kilometers from the surface of the Earth. With the help of modern drilling technologies, it is quite possible to penetrate there. The energy of geothermal sources can be extracted and usefully used.
Energy at the service of man
At sea level, water turns into steam at 100 degrees Celsius. But underground, where the pressure is much higher, the water remains in a liquid state at higher temperatures. The boiling point of water rises to 230, 315 and 600 degrees Celsius at a depth of 300, 1525 and 3000 meters respectively. If the water temperature in the drilled well is above 175 degrees Celsius, then this water can be used to operate electric generators.
High-temperature water is usually found in areas of recent volcanic activity, for example, in the Pacific geosynclinal belt - there, on the islands of the Pacific Ocean, there are many active as well as extinct volcanoes. The Philippines is in this zone. And in recent years, this country has made significant progress in using geothermal sources to generate electricity. The Philippines has become one of the world's largest producers of geothermal energy. More than 20 percent of all electricity consumed by the country is obtained in this way.
To learn more about how the earth's heat is used to generate electricity, visit the large McBan geothermal power plant in the Philippine province of Laguna. The capacity of the power plant is 426 megawatts.
geothermal power plant
The road leads to a geothermal field. Approaching the station, you find yourself in a realm of large pipes through which steam from geothermal wells enters the generator. The steam also flows through the pipes from the nearby hills. At regular intervals, huge pipes are bent into special loops that allow them to expand and contract as they heat up and cool down.
Near this place is the office of "Philippine Geothermal, Inc.". There are several production wells not far from the office. The station uses the same drilling method as the oil production. The only difference is that these wells are larger in diameter. Wells become pipelines through which hot water and pressurized steam rise to the surface. It is this mixture that enters the power plant. Here are two wells very close together. They approach only at the surface. Under the ground, one of them goes vertically down, and the other is directed by the station staff at their discretion. Since the land is expensive, such an arrangement is very beneficial - storm wells are close to each other, saving money.
This site uses "flash evaporation technology". The depth of the deepest well here is 3,700 meters. Hot water is under high pressure deep underground. But as the water rises to the surface, the pressure drops and most of the water instantly turns into steam, hence the name.
Water enters the separator through the pipeline. Here the steam is separated from the hot water or geothermal brine. But even after that, the steam is not yet ready to enter the electric generator - water drops remain in the steam stream. These droplets contain particles of substances that can enter the turbine and damage it. Therefore, after the separator, the steam enters the gas cleaner. Here the steam is cleaned of these particles.
Large, insulated pipes carry the purified steam to a power plant about a kilometer away. Before the steam enters the turbine and drives the generator, it is passed through another gas scrubber to remove the resulting condensate.
If you climb to the top of the hill, then the entire geothermal site will open to your eyes.
The total area of this site is about seven square kilometers. There are 102 wells here, 63 of them are production wells. Many others are used to pump water back into the bowels. Such a huge amount of hot water and steam is processed every hour that it is necessary to return the separated water back to the bowels so as not to harm the environment. And also this process helps to restore the geothermal field.
How does a geothermal power plant affect the landscape? Most of all, it is reminiscent of the steam coming out of steam turbines. Coconut palms and other trees grow around the power plant. In the valley, located at the foot of the hill, many residential buildings have been built. Therefore, when used properly, geothermal energy can serve people without harming the environment.
This power plant uses only high-temperature steam to generate electricity. However, not so long ago they tried to get energy using a liquid whose temperature is below 200 degrees Celsius. And as a result there was a geothermal power plant with a double cycle. During operation, the hot steam-water mixture is used to convert the working fluid into a gaseous state, which, in turn, drives the turbine.
Pros and cons
The use of geothermal energy has many advantages. Countries where it is applied are less dependent on oil. Every ten megawatts of electricity produced by geothermal power plants annually saves 140,000 barrels of crude oil per year. In addition, geothermal resources are huge, and the risk of their depletion is many times lower than in the case of many other energy resources. The use of geothermal energy solves the problem of environmental pollution. In addition, its cost is quite low compared to many other types of energy.
There are several environmental downsides. Geothermal steam usually contains hydrogen sulfide, which is poisonous in large quantities, and unpleasant in small quantities due to the smell of sulfur. However, systems that remove this gas are efficient and more efficient than emission control systems in fossil fuel power plants. In addition, the particles in the water vapor stream sometimes contain small amounts of arsenic and other toxic substances. But when pumping waste into the ground, the danger is reduced to a minimum. The possibility of groundwater pollution can also cause concern. To prevent this from happening, geothermal wells drilled to great depths must be "dressed" in a framework of steel and cement.
Among alternative sources, geothermal energy occupies a significant place - it is used in one way or another in about 80 countries around the world. In most cases, this occurs at the level of building greenhouses, swimming pools, use as a therapeutic agent or heating.
In several countries - including the USA, Iceland, Italy, Japan and others - power plants have been built and are operating.
Geothermal energy is generally divided into two types - petrothermal and hydrothermal. The first type uses hot rocks as a source. The second is groundwater.
If you bring all the data on the topic into one diagram, you will find that in 99% of cases the heat of the rocks is used, and only in 1% of the geothermal energy is extracted from groundwater.
At the moment, the world uses the heat of the earth's interior quite widely, and this is mainly the energy of shallow wells - up to 1 km. In order to provide electricity, heat or hot water, downhole heat exchangers are installed that operate on liquids with a low boiling point (for example, freon).
Now the use of a borehole heat exchanger is the most rational way to extract heat. It looks like this: the coolant circulates in a closed circuit. The heated one rises along the concentrically lowered pipe, giving off its heat, after which, cooled, it is fed into the casing with the help of a pump.
The use of the energy of the earth's interior is based on a natural phenomenon - as it approaches the core of the Earth, the temperature of the earth's crust and mantle increases. At a level of 2-3 km from the surface of the planet, it reaches more than 100 °C, on average increasing by 20 °C with each subsequent kilometer. At a depth of 100 km, the temperature already reaches 1300-1500 º-C.
Water circulating at great depths is heated to significant values. In seismically active areas, it rises to the surface through cracks in the earth's crust, while in calm regions it can be removed using boreholes.
The principle of operation is the same: heated water rises up the well, gives off heat, and returns down the second pipe. The cycle is practically endless and renewable as long as there is warmth in the bowels of the earth.
In some seismically active regions, hot waters lie so close to the surface that you can see firsthand how geothermal energy works. A photo of the surroundings of the Krafla volcano (Iceland) shows geysers that transmit steam for the GeoTPP operating there.
Attention to alternative sources is due to the fact that oil and gas reserves on the planet are not endless, and are gradually being exhausted. In addition, they are not available everywhere, and many countries depend on supplies from other regions. Among other important factors is the negative impact of nuclear and fuel energy on the human environment and wildlife.
The great advantage of GE is its renewability and versatility: the ability to use it for water and heat supply, or for generating electricity, or for all three purposes at once.
But the main thing is geothermal energy, the pros and cons of which depend not so much on the area as on the customer's wallet.
Among the advantages of this type of energy are the following:
However, there are also disadvantages:
Today, geothermal resources are used in agriculture, horticulture, aqua and thermal culture, industry, housing and communal services. In several countries, large complexes have been built to provide the population with electricity. The development of new systems continues.
Most often, the use of geothermal energy in agriculture is reduced to heating and watering greenhouses, greenhouses, aqua and hydroculture installations. A similar approach is used in several states - Kenya, Israel, Mexico, Greece, Guatemala and Teda.
Underground sources are used for watering fields, heating the soil, maintaining a constant temperature and humidity in a greenhouse or greenhouse.
In November 2014, the largest geothermal power plant in the world at the time began operating in Kenya. The second largest is located in Iceland - this is Hellisheidy, which takes heat from sources near the Hengidl volcano.
Other countries using geothermal energy on an industrial scale: USA, Philippines, Russia, Japan, Costa Rica, Turkey, New Zealand, etc.
There are four main schemes for generating energy at GeoTPP:
In 2009, a team of researchers searching for exploitable geothermal resources reached molten magma at a depth of just 2.1 km. Such a hit in magma is very rare, this is only the second known case (the previous one occurred in Hawaii in 2007).
Although the pipe connected to the magma has never been connected to the nearby Krafla Geothermal Power Plant, the scientists have obtained very promising results. Until now, all operating stations took heat indirectly, from earth rocks or from groundwater.
One of the most promising areas is the private sector, for which geothermal energy is a real alternative to autonomous gas heating. The most serious obstacle here is the relatively cheap operation of the high initial cost of the equipment, which is much higher than the price of installing a "traditional" heating.
MuoviTech, Geodynamics Ltd, Vaillant, Viessmann, Nibe offer their developments for the private sector.
The undisputed leader in the use of georesources is the United States - in 2012, energy production in this country reached 16.792 million megawatt-hours. In the same year, the total capacity of all geothermal stations in the United States reached 3386 MW.
Geothermal power plants in the United States are located in the states of California, Nevada, Utah, Hawaii, Oregon, Idaho, New Mexico, Alaska and Wyoming. The largest group of factories is called "Geysers" and is located near San Francisco.
In addition to the United States, the top ten (as of 2013) also includes the Philippines, Indonesia, Italy, New Zealand, Mexico, Iceland, Japan, Kenya and Turkey. At the same time, in Iceland, geothermal energy sources provide 30% of the country's total demand, in the Philippines - 27%, and in the USA - less than 1%.
Working stations are just the beginning, the industry is just beginning to develop. Research in this direction is ongoing: more than 70 countries are exploring potential deposits, 60 countries have mastered the industrial use of HE.
Seismically active areas look promising (as can be seen from the example of Iceland) - the state of California in the USA, New Zealand, Japan, the countries of Central America, the Philippines, Iceland, Costa Rica, Turkey, Kenya. These countries have potentially profitable unexplored deposits.
In Russia, these are the Stavropol Territory and Dagestan, Sakhalin Island and the Kuril Islands, Kamchatka. In Belarus, there is some potential in the south of the country, covering the cities of Svetlogorsk, Gomel, Rechitsa, Kalinkovichi and Oktyabrsky.
In Ukraine, the Transcarpathian, Nikolaev, Odessa and Kherson regions are promising.
Quite promising is the Crimean peninsula, especially since most of the energy it consumes is imported from outside.
Geothermal power plants (GeoES) are a kind of alternative energy. GeoPPs receive electrical energy from geothermal sources of the Earth's interior - geysers, open and underground hot sources of water or methane, warm dry rocks, magma. Since geological activity occurs regularly on the planet, geothermal sources can be conditionally considered inexhaustible (renewable). According to scientists, the thermal energy of the Earth is 42 trillion watts, 2% of which (840 billion) is contained in the earth's crust and is available for production, but this figure is enough to provide the population of the Earth with inexhaustible energy for many years.
Regions with geothermal activity are found in many parts of the planet, and areas with high geological activity (volcanic, seismic) are considered ideal for building stations. The most active development of the industry takes place in places where hot geysers accumulate, as well as in areas around the edges of the lithospheric plates due to the smallest thickness of the earth's crust.
Well drilling is used to obtain heat from closed underground sources. As the well deepens, the temperature rises by about 1 degree every 36 meters, but there are higher rates. The resulting heat is delivered to the surface of the station in the form of hot water or steam, they can be used both for direct supply to the heating systems of houses and premises, and for subsequent conversion into electricity at the station.
Depending on the state of the medium (water, steam), three methods of generating electricity are used - direct, indirect and mixed. With direct, dry steam is used, which acts directly on the generator turbine. With indirect, purified and heated water vapor is used (the most popular at present), obtained by the evaporation of water pumped from underground sources with a temperature of up to 190 degrees. As can be seen from the presented figure, the superheated steam rises through the production wells to the heat exchanger. It transfers thermal energy to a closed circuit of a steam turbine. The steam obtained from boiling the liquid rotates the turbine, after which it condenses again in the heat exchanger, which forms a closed and practically harmless system for the atmosphere. The steam turbine is connected to an electric generator, from which they receive electricity. In the mixed method, intermediate easily effervescent liquids (freon, etc.) are used, which are exposed to boiling water from sources.
Advantages of geothermal power plants:
1) Stations do not require external fuel to operate;
2) Practically inexhaustible reserves of energy (if the necessary conditions are met);
3) The possibility of automated and autonomous operation through the use of self-generated electricity;
4) Relative cheapness of station maintenance;
5) Stations can be used for water desalination if they are located on the coast of the ocean or sea.
Geothermal power plants - disadvantages:
1) The choice of a station installation site is often complicated by political and social aspects;
2) The design and construction of a GeoPP may require very large investments;
3) Atmospheric pollution by periodic emissions of harmful substances contained in the bark through the well (modern technologies make it possible to partially convert these emissions into fuel), but it is much lower than in the production of electricity from fossil sources;
4) Instability of natural geological processes and, as a result, periodic shutdown of stations.
First geothermal power plant
The first experiments with the extraction of energy from geothermal sources date back to the beginning of the 20th century (1904, Italy, where, after a short time, the first full-fledged geothermal power plant was also built). At present, given the rapid growth in electricity consumption and the rapid depletion of traditional energy raw materials, this is one of the most promising energy sectors.
The largest geothermal power plants
The leaders in obtaining geothermal energy are now the United States and the Philippines, where the largest GeoPPs have been built, producing more than 300 MW of energy each, which is enough to supply large cities with energy.
Geothermal power plants in Russia
In Russia, the industry is less developed, but here, too, there is an active development. The most promising regions of the country are the Kuril Islands and Kamchatka. The largest geothermal power plant in the country is the Mutnovskaya GeoPP in the southeast of Kamchatka, which produces up to 50 MW of energy (up to 80 MW in the future). It should also be noted Pauzhetskaya (the first one built in Russia), Oceanskaya and Mendeleevskaya GeoPP.
