Known as "The Land of Ice and Fire," Iceland
is geographically gifted with an abundance of clean geothermal energy.
Shaped by the fierce divergent tectonic forces of the North American
and Eurasian 
plates, the country has an immense degree of volcanism that
brings heat and magma close to its surface. Iceland's geothermal
resources now contributes to approximately 25% of its total electricity
production and over 90% of its space heating.
Geothermal Energy
Geothermal energy is power acquired from tapping into the Earth's natural internal heat sources. This energy is found within the rocks of the Earth's crust and is derived anywhere from shallow ground all the way to magma several miles below. These underground reservoirs of steam and hot water can be utilized to generate electricity or heat buildings. This is primarily done by tapping steam and extremely hot water and using them to drive turbines linked to electricity generators.
There are two principal areas for which geothermal energy
is tapped: high-temperature fields and low-temperature fields.
High-temperature areas are located within an active volcanic zone or
marginal to them. They are mostly on high ground with young, permeable
rock. Due to the topography, the groundwater table is generally deep
and surface manifestations are largely steam vents. In contrast,
low-temperature areas are all located outside the volcanic zone. The
heat-source is usually from the earth's hot crust. Faults and
fractures, which are kept open by continuous tectonic activity, provides
the channel for water- often precipitation that percolates down into
bedrock- to circulate through the systems and mines the heat.
There are three types of geothermal power plants: dry steam, flash, and binary. Dry steam is the oldest form of the three. It takes steam out of fractures in the Earth and uses it directly to drive a turbine. Flash plants pull deep, high-pressure hot water and mixes it with cooler, low-pressure water to also create steam to move turbines. Binary, which are expected to become the primary form of geothermal energy production, passes hot water through a secondary fluid with a much lower boiling point than water. This causes the secondary fluid to turn to vapor, which then drives a turbine.
Binary plants release essentially no emissions and
geothermal fields in general, produce only about 1/6th of the carbon
dioxide that a relatively clean natural-gas-fueled power plants
produces. Also, unlike other forms of renewable energy, such as solar
and wind, geothermal energy is always available. It is relatively
inexpensive, with savings from direct usage reaching as high as 80% over
fossil
plates, the country has an immense degree of volcanism that
brings heat and magma close to its surface. Iceland's geothermal
resources now contributes to approximately 25% of its total electricity
production and over 90% of its space heating. Geothermal Energy
Geothermal energy is power acquired from tapping into the Earth's natural internal heat sources. This energy is found within the rocks of the Earth's crust and is derived anywhere from shallow ground all the way to magma several miles below. These underground reservoirs of steam and hot water can be utilized to generate electricity or heat buildings. This is primarily done by tapping steam and extremely hot water and using them to drive turbines linked to electricity generators.
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There are three types of geothermal power plants: dry steam, flash, and binary. Dry steam is the oldest form of the three. It takes steam out of fractures in the Earth and uses it directly to drive a turbine. Flash plants pull deep, high-pressure hot water and mixes it with cooler, low-pressure water to also create steam to move turbines. Binary, which are expected to become the primary form of geothermal energy production, passes hot water through a secondary fluid with a much lower boiling point than water. This causes the secondary fluid to turn to vapor, which then drives a turbine.
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