Comments on: What is Geothermal?

By: Geothermal in Central Oregon Recieves Federal Funds | Peachy Green

Geothermal in Central Oregon Recieves Federal Funds | Peachy Green — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 11:51:06 +0000

[...] Geothermal in Central Oregon Newberry National Volcanic Monument (c) Stephanie Hicks [...]

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 21:56:02 +0000

Hi Dan,

Thank you for your engineering insight! I personally believe that it will take all types of renewable energy to help us cut fossil fuel consumption and address global and political needs.

Best, Stephanie

By: Dan

Dan — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 08:59:42 +0000

I am a mechanical engineering student graduating soon in BC Canada with a strong interest in thermodynamics and renewable energy

Geothermal heat pumps are great. Unfortunately,they aren’t really energy “sources” per se. Heat pumps take energy to run, and the energy flow that results is not magical in any way. You are forcing energy to flow against temperature gradient by using thermodynamic manipulation is all.

While it is not a source of energy that will allow us to replace fossil fuels, it does allow for major cuts back in consumption however, and therefore the technology is great. Good luck in your assessments in Alaska

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 05:18:12 +0000

Hi Michelle, great information! I love the cheetahpower site, by the way. I will follow up with another post about using geothermal heat pumps. Thanks for dropping by and leaving a comment!

Stephanie

By: Michelle LaBrosse

Michelle LaBrosse — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 00:53:30 +0000

There is another source of geothermal renewable energy that does not require you to harness steam from the earth – it is geothermal heat pumps. I am assessing using a geothermal heat pump on a property in Alaska – http://www.cheetahpower.net/20.....-property/

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 14:54:05 +0000

Perfect – thank you Ralph! This is an excellent addition for people that want to learn more about geothermal.

Best, Stephanie

By: Ralph Bassfeld

Ralph Bassfeld — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 12:59:19 +0000

Hi Stephanie. I wrote a primer as an introduction to geothermal power generation. It explains thermal temperature curves, power plant types and gives a short overview of the various technologies involved n generating power from geothermal energy.
Here is a direct link to the pdf document (3.6MB): http://www.bassfeld.ch/assets/Geothermal_Power.pdf