The term geothermal refers to the Greek words Geo, meaning the earth and Therme, meaning heat. Translated, geothermal energy refers to the heat from the earth. It means the use of heat to generate electricity and meet the energy requirements of our cities and towns. Geothermal energy has been in the public domain for more than a century now. Italy was the first country to start generating electricity by exploiting geothermal energy in the year 1903. Since then a lot of developments have taken place in this area.
Worldwide, there are hundreds of power plants that use geothermal energy as their main source for meeting the power needs of the people. The United States has more than forty geothermal plants that provide electricity by using the heat from the earth’s sources. With the depletion of forests and other natural resources, there has been increased concern for maintaining and preserving the natural resources of the earth. Many countries are looking at ways and means for meeting their energy requirements. Some have already started generating electricity through solar energy, wind energy and other similar energy technologies. One such source that can contribute to clean and green power generation is geothermal energy.
The location for a geothermal plant is solely determined by the amount of geothermal activity below the surface of the earth at any given place. This activity takes place due to the availability of magma very near to the surface of the earth. It is the presence of this magma that releases the geothermal energy so very vital for meeting our energy requirements.
