The Future of Energy Comes From Inside Earth?

Photo by Sam Bark on Unsplash

According to Forbes, as of 2020 fossil fuels are used to supply 84 percent of the world’s energy. While they have been useful for the past centuries as an efficient, reliable, and cheap energy source, when fossil fuels are burned to discharge energy they also “release nitrogen oxides" into the atmosphere, which "contribute to the formation of smog and acid rain (EPA)." But smog not only acts as a visually unappealing and depressing form of pollution – it is also detrimental to human health. According to the CDC, Ground-level Ozone, a fundamental component of smog, can result in reduced lung function, increased hospital admissions, and even an increase in premature deaths. But, not all is dreary in the future of our world’s energy consumption. As of late, we are met with a new player in the energy game: geothermal energy.

Geothermal energy is energy that originates from the heat inside of Earth’s core, and is a renewable energy source since heat is consistently generated within the planet. The energy created can be used through heat pumps, which transfer heat to buildings during cooler seasons, and directly, having versatility in cooking, bathing, and space heating. But the most important way it can be used is for electrical power generation, showing its potential as a viable replacement for fossil fuels. Producing electricity with geothermal energy is based on “conventional steam turbine and generator equipment,” in which “expanding steam powers the turbine/generator to produce electricity (DOE).” This can be done through three methods: dry-steam, flashed-steam, and binary cycle power plants, all of which produce the electricity we need to power our everyday activities. And what separates this heat energy from fossil fuels the most, in addition to how well it works as an energy source, is that it can serve as an environmentally conscious option. It minimizes environmental impacts on the earth by reducing waste products and land usage, along with a significantly smaller impact on air pollution. So with the use of geothermal energy, we can reduce fossil fuels, which leads us to the subsequent slow down of global warming, and the removal of greenhouse gasses from the atmosphere will be made possible.

But not only is geothermal energy beneficial for the planet's health – it can also benefit the economies of countries that implement their usage. For example, according to the US Department of Energy’s report, a benefit of geothermal energy is that it “is generated using [domestic] resources, which reduces our nation’s dependence on imported energy, thereby reducing trade deficits [... which] keeps wealth at home and promotes healthier economies.”

No longer can world superpowers wait to change the business practices of manufacturing industries – the time of fossil fuels has passed. Now, we can only look towards the future and the use of geothermal energy to keep our Earth, environment, and economies healthy.