Geothermal Energy
Introduced| English |
|---|
| Geothermal/ˌdʒiːəʊˈθɜːml/ |
| turbine/ˈtɜːbaɪn/ |
| Volcanic/vɒlˈkænɪk/ |
| renewable/rɪˈnjuːəbl/ |
Heat from deep below
- Deep inside the Earth, rock is intensely hot.
- Geothermal 地热能 energy taps that underground heat.
- In some places the heat comes close to the surface.
- We can use it to warm buildings and make electricity.
How it makes power
- Water is pumped down to the hot rock deep below.
- The heat flashes the water into high-pressure steam.
- The steam rushes up and spins a turbine 涡轮机.
- The turbine drives a generator, and the water is pumped back down.
Geothermal energy comes from…
Geothermal energy taps the natural heat stored inside the Earth.
Where it works best
- It is easiest where hot rock is near the surface.
- Volcanic 火山 regions like Iceland are ideal.
- There, geothermal supplies heat and electricity cheaply.
- Elsewhere the hot rock is too deep to reach easily.
How geothermal power works
Follow Earth's underground heat up to electricity in the wires.
Geothermal power is easiest where…
Where volcanic activity brings hot rock close to the surface, like Iceland, geothermal is cheap and easy.
Because Earth's heat keeps flowing, geothermal is a ____ energy source.
Earth's internal heat is effectively endless, so geothermal is renewable.
The benefits
- Earth's heat keeps flowing, so it is renewable 可再生.
- It releases very little CO2 — no burning.
- It runs steadily day and night, in any weather.
- So it avoids the intermittency problem of solar and wind.
Geothermal power releases far less CO2 than burning coal.
Geothermal uses Earth's heat, not combustion, so it emits very little CO2.
Select all advantages of geothermal energy.
Geothermal is renewable, low-CO2, and steady day and night — but only easy where hot rock is near the surface.
Geothermal's one big limit is location. It's renewable, low-carbon, and steady — better than solar or wind in some ways — but it's only cheap and easy where volcanic activity brings hot rock near the surface. A cloudy, wind-poor country over a volcanic hotspot (like Iceland) is perfectly placed; a flat, stable continent is not.
Iceland's advantage:
- It sits on a volcanic hotspot, so scalding rock is just below the surface.
- Water pumped down comes back up as steam, spinning turbines for electricity — and piped hot water heats nearly every home.
- The same setup would cost a fortune to drill on a stable, cold plain far from any volcano.
Geothermal energy uses heat from inside the Earth: water pumped to hot rock returns as steam that spins a turbine. It is renewable, low-CO2, and runs day and night — avoiding solar and wind's intermittency. Its one big limit is location: it is easy only where volcanic activity brings hot rock near the surface.