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Megan Vaillancourt GEOTHERMAL ENERGY AND BIOMASS

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WHAT IS GEOTHERMAL ENERGY? Super Heated Rocks in Earths Crust Predicted that 10 km of Earths crust has 50,000x greater energy potential or power than ALL oil and natural gas reserves in the world. 2 METHODS OF ACCESSING GEOTHERMAL ENERGY GEO VIDEO

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WET GEOTHERMAL ENERGY Uses the superheated groundwater quickly brought to surface Steam emitted from water spins turbines drives the generators which create energy Steam condenses pumped back into ground Large volumes of heated water can be hazards to local water systems and their aquatic life if let in

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DRY GEOTHERMAL ENERGY WHEN WE USE IT: Areas where there is lots of heated rock, but not groundwater to access Alternative water source is sought out surface water Surface water pumped into ground, then brought to surface to a location where the steam is used to create power REVIEW: WET GEOTHERMAL ENERGY = GROUNDWATER DRY GEOTHERMAL ENERGY = SURFACE WATER

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NEW TECHNOLOGIES Before now, only extreme heat underground was required to bring water to a boiling point temperature making geothermal energy only accessible to active volcanic regions. The use of low boiling liquids in closed boilers allows geothermal energy to be accessed by more countries # of countries able to harness geothermal electricity DOUBLES by 2015 RESIDENTIAL GEOTHERMAL GEEEOOTHERRMAAL

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WHO HAS GEOTHERMAL ENERGY? World leader in geo energy is the USA, followed by the Philippines + Indonesia Top geothermal in Europe : Italy and Iceland 10 of top 15 geothermal producing countries are developing countries GREAT RIFT VALLEY, AFRICA = 10,000 KM of nearly inexhaustible energy What could this bring to the developing world??

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WORLDS LARGEST GEOTHERMAL COMPLEX Mayacamas Mountains, California (20km N of San Francisco) Natural occurring steam fields geysers (Geysers: boiling hot springs of steamy water from cracks in earths plates) used for geothermal electricity Home to 22 power plants that create enough energy to power a place bigge r than San Fran + 800,000 people Makes up 60% of the energy needs of North Coast region from San Fran to the Oregon border

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http://player.vimeo.com/video/58388368

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ICELAND More and more industry is becoming geothermal based 5 new plants proposed Hellisheioi power plant largest in Iceland Inexpensively powers largest city, Reykjavik Plans set in place to make plant biggest in the world Reykjavik Plant

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DOES CANADA USE GEOTHERMAL ENERGY? Canada sits on enough geothermal potential that we could power ALL of CANADA in 100 plants! Power produced would be more than 1 million times more than Canada uses today Could also heat homes in Canada is expensive, and a investment CAN. GOVERNMENT doesnt want to fund commercial geothermal energy WHY? INITIAL COSTS ARE HIGH deters government from funding Takes up to 7 years to produce energy gov wont wait for profits USA offers 27% tax credits to renewable energy companies majority of USA plants are built/run by Canadian companies

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Yellowknife, Northwest Territories highest carbon footprint due to high heating Plans to access geothermal energy to reduce footprint Decided not to borrow money, looked to private developers instead

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ADVANTAGES OF GEOTHERMAL ENGERY RENEWABLE ENERGY as long as rocks dont cool Doesnt create acid rain/ greenhouse effect No fuel needed to create power Little habitat affected Initial costs only energy is basically free afterwards Can be cheap alternative in volcanic areas like Iceland Local power eliminates power lines Always available no need for storage/ alternative source of energy i.e.: wind, solar, video.htmhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1r7fXO 0QII

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DISADVANTAGES OF GEOTHERMAL ENERGY Rocks can cool power generating plants not moveable Salt / heavy metals brought to surface through groundwater could contaminate local environment Unwanted hydrogen sulphide gases may be emitted Plants are noisy Large amounts of heat released into atmosphere http://www.wonderville.ca/asset/save-the-world ENERGY GAME

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BIOMASS http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bbxtWMEy3Qhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79nW2o-kYa4

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ENERGY FROM LIVING MATTER Produced from plant / animal matter i.e.: wood, peat, grain waste, dung (animal excrement ) Mostly obsolete in well populated areas small isolated locations use it abundantly Saw + pulp mills burn large # wood waste and beehive burners Wood Waste : damp, dry, brittle left over wood not usable by logging companies Beehive Burners : cone shaped burners used in disposal of wood waste in logging yards + disposing of sawdust in sawmills BC moving to improve air quality; slowly banning beehive burners Peat: decayed vegetation

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ORGANIC ENERGY Organic Waste: paper, wood, vegetable matter. Waste-to-energy: garbage transformed into usually energy i.e.: garbage into steam for energy Incinerators: huge burners that combust organic waste into new sources In Burnaby, waste-to-energy is practiced and 250,000 tonnes garbage = 800,000 tonnes of steam power sold to paper recycling plant in order to not use fossil fuels. Charlottetown, P.E.I. incinerator supplies a hospital w/ energy saves 50,000 barrels of oil from being used per year Incinerators create energy + recede garage volume by 90%

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METHANE GAS Methane Gas : greenhouse gas odourless, colorless, flammable Created by rotting garbage in landfills Can be harnessed to create energy/ heat