GEO THERMAL ENERGY AND ITS POTENTIAL IN INDIA :
Geothermal energy is one of the potential alternative energy sources catering to both industrial and domestic energy requirements in many parts of the world. Presently, it is being used as a source for producing electricity mainly along active plate boundaries.
What is Geo thermal Energy?
Geothermal is made of two Greek words –geo which means ‘earth’, and thermal, which means ‘heat’. Thus, geothermal energy is the heat from the earth. It is a clean and sustainable source of energy. Resources of geothermal energy range from the moderate-to-low temperature hot spring systems to hot rock found a few miles beneath the earth’s surface, and down even deeper to the extremely high temperatures of molten rocks. Below the earth’s crust, there is a layer of hot and molten rocks called magma. Heat is continually produced there, mostly from the decay of naturally radioactive materials such as uranium and potassium. Heat flows outward from the earth’s interior. Normally, the crust of the earth insulates us from earth’s interior heat. The mantle is semi-molten, the outer core is liquid and the inner core is solid. It is interesting to mention here that the amount of heat within 10,000 meters of earth’s surface is 50,000 times more energy than all the oil and natural gas resources in the world.
Normally geothermal energy is captured from geothermal hot spots. Basically, a hotspot is an area of reduced thickness in the mantle which allows the excess internal heat from the interior of the earth to flow to the outer crust. These hot spots include the volcanic islands, mineral deposits, and geysers normally known as hot springs.
Hot Springs for Geothermal Power Plants: The most common way of capturing energy from geothermal heat is to tap into naturally occurring ‘hydro thermal convection’ systems where cooler water seeping into earth’s crust is heated up, and it then rises to the surface. When heated water from the hot springs is forced to the surface, it is a relatively simple matter to capture that steam and use it to drive electric generators. In order to set up geothermal power plants, holes are drilled into the rock to capture steam more effectively to drive electric generators. If the water comes out of the hot spring as steam, it can be used directly whereas the hot water can be used as a flash system.
Advantages and limitations of Geothermal Energy:
Geothermal energy is used for heating homes and for generating electricity without producing any harmful emissions. The first advantage of using geothermal heat as a source of energy is that, unlike most power stations, a geothermal power plant does not create any pollution and geothermal energy can be used to produce electricity 24 hours a day. Thus, geothermal energy is an excellent source of clean, inexpensive and renewable energy. If the geothermal energy is harnessed correctly, it leads to no harmful by-products.
Prospects of Geothermal Energy in India :
Geological Survey ofIndia has identified about 340 geothermal hot springs in the country.Most of them are in the low surface temperature range from 37 degree celsius to 90 degree celsius which is suitable for direct heat applications. These springs are grouped into seven geothermal provinces i.e.Himalayan (Puga, Chhumathang), Sahara Valley, Cambay Basin, Son-Narmada-Tapi (SONATA) lineament belt, West Coast, Godavari basin and Mahanadi basin. Some of the prominent geothermal resources include Puga Valley and Chhumathang in Jammu and Kashmir, Manikaran in Himachal Pradesh, Jalgaon in Maharashtra and Tapovan in Uttarakhand. A new location of geothermal power energy has also been found in Tattapani in Chhattisgarh. In addition, Gujarat is set to tap geothermal electricity through resources which are available in Cambay between Narmada and Tapi river
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