| The phrase "geothermal energy" has been | | | | around 1 meter of earth, is geothermal |
| around for hundreds of years. The term | | | | energy. Many scientists disagree with this, |
| "geothermal" derives from the Greek words; | | | | as geothermal energy should be used to |
| geo (meaning earth), and therme (meaning | | | | describe the heat energy dispersed by the |
| heat). This instantly gives us the quick | | | | earth's core. |
| definition, "geothermal energy is heat from | | | | |
| the earth". | | | | The variant of geothermal energy which comes |
| | | | from the sun, should really be described as a |
| A common misunderstanding of geothermal | | | | ground heat source, due to the fact that |
| energy lies in the source of this heat. The | | | | solar energy is only able to heat the edge of |
| two sources which heat our earth are the | | | | our earth's crust, before the sun goes down |
| earth's core, and the sun. | | | | and the heat is lost. |
| | | | |
| The earth's core is predicted to be between | | | | Over recent years, companies who used to |
| 3000 and 4000 degrees Celsius, and this heat | | | | promote "geothermal boilers" are now |
| warms the earth right up to the land beneath | | | | switching to the use of the term "ground |
| our feet, decreasing in temperature all the | | | | source heat pumps", as a ground source heat |
| way. | | | | pump uses the suns energy, not the heat |
| | | | energy from the earth's core. |
| The suns surface is approximately 5600 | | | | |
| degrees Celsius. The heat from the sun only | | | | The correct process of geothermal energy |
| warms the first few meters of our earth, and | | | | extraction is associated with geothermal |
| then this heat is lost during the night. | | | | power plants. This extraction is only made |
| | | | possible by drilling very deep holes into the |
| So where does the misconception concerning | | | | earth, so they can reach a substantial level |
| geothermal energy actually come from? Well, | | | | of geothermal energy to heat water and |
| many people believe that the fairly modern | | | | extract steam to drive turbines. |
| method of heating water by laying pipes under | | | | |