Geothermal Energy

Geothermal energy is produced from naturally occurring steam and hot water. In the U.S., over 2700 MW of power capacity is derived from geothermal sources. Electricity produced from geothermal resources in the United States displaces the emission of 22 million tons of carbon dioxide, 200 thousand tons of sulfur dioxide, 80 thousand tons of nitrogen oxides, and 110 thousand tons of particulate matter every year compared with production of the same amount of electricity from conventional coal-fired plants.

Geothermal power plants are operable 95% of the time and higher, compared to 60-70% for coal and nuclear plants. Geothermal power plants also have the highest capacity factor among all types of power plants. Capacity factor refers to the amount of energy actually produced per year in kilowatt-hours compared with the amount that could be produced if the plant operated continuously at full capacity.

Today, the cost of electricity from typical geothermal systems ranges from 5-8 cents/kWh, but these prices are anticipated to decrease as technology and prevalence of geothermal energy improves. The geothermal industry is working to achieve a geothermal energy life-cycle cost of electricity of 3 cents/kWh by 2007. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that five times the known amount of megawatts of geothermal energy may be available from undiscovered geothermal sources in the United States.