Geothermal energy

Geothermal energy
Geothermal energy is heat energy from the earth’s interior. This is a substantial energy resource. It originates from heat energy stored in the earth’s core and mantle, coming from a continuous supply of heat energy from the splitting of radioactive elements in the earth’s crust. The temperature difference leads to a continuous heat flow from the earth’s interior to the surface.

Resource basis
Geothermal energy is heat that originates from earth’s interior. This heat mainly have two sources.

Areas of application, value chains, technologies and market.
The most obvious application of geothermal energy and background heating with heat pumps is for heating and cooling purposes. On a global scale, the total installed output is 27 825 MW thermal output and the total production in 2005 was 261 400 TJ (or 73 TWh) [Lund et al, 2005].

Environmental impact
Geothermal energy, background heating and waste heat are ecologically sound energy sources. Utilization of background heating and waste heat in most countries is a non-emission alternative to use of fossil fuels.

Products and services in the value chain
The life cycle of geothermal projects can be determined through a pre-study with a survey of energy needs and consumer profile, choice of solutions, localization and dimensioning of wells, dimensioning of the energy central, installation and start-up, operation and maintenance.

References
References to the information about geothermal energy.