14 DAY TRIAL // Google.org, the charitable arm of Internet search engine company Google, wants to explore the potential of geothermal energy, superficially exploited only in the eastern part of the country until now.
To turn this goal into reality, the organization supports the costs of the findings of scientists from Southern Methodist University. A recent mapping study showed that the hot rocks beneath us might respond to our demand for clean alternative power in a very efficient manner.
According to the researchers who were interested in finding more about geothermal power, this renewable source is capable of giving humankind up to 10 times more energy than we might obtain at this point in time from all coal power plants that are functional worldwide.
They have gathered information coming from approximately 35,000 sites all across the US and showed that the American nation has great chances to obtain green power from geothermal sources which seem to be available everywhere, even in two thirds of the eastern regions, so far considered sterile from this perspective.
Until now, the development of such kind of power and its appliance on a national scale has been delayed by concerns towards the potential costs of such operations. Experts thought that deep drilling processes may not pay off in every area suspected to have energetic potential.
Also, this technique is still considered dangerous by several scientists who warn us that we would be better off without this source of power, since drilling might be responsible for producing earthquakes.
Domenico Giardi, the director of Swiss Seismological Service, treated this matter with attention in an editorial published in the Nature journal. Among other important information, it reveals that the EGS techniques were stopped by an earthquake in Basel, Switzeland, in 2009.
So this theory isn't conclusive only on paper, it functions quite efficient in practice, also. Yet the matter seems to be under control now, since the officials from SMU try to bring public opinion on their side by affirming that the are developing a reassuring system of monitoring and controlling the earthquake issues.
But despite these facts, experts say that they can value the qualities of the present enhanced geothermal systems (EGS). The entire process is relatively simple and highly beneficial. Experts drill several miles inside the earth's crust, then they inject hot water to decompose the rocks.
In the process, hot water will eventually be released and it will provide power to a turbine in order to generate electricity.
Such a system is supposed to overcome all the bumps in the road, while allowing scientists to exploit the great potential of geothermal energy, which might bring us up to 3 million megawatts of clean, renewable power.