What Are the Pros & Cons of Geothermal?

Costs

• The costs of geothermal energy are less than other types of energy. The cost of land used for geothermal energy is less than land used to construct nuclear power, gas, oil or coal buildings. This decrease in cost is due to the fact that geothermal energy facilities require less space than other energy plants. Running costs of geothermal plants are also lower because fuel is not needed to run the plant. The costs for purchasing fuel, transporting or cleaning fuel do not apply to geothermal plants. Additionally, geothermal energy is considered to be an alternative energy and is very clean and environmentally friendly. Therefore, geothermal plants may be eligible for tax cuts and other benefits.

Environmental Effects

• Geothermal energy is very clean and therefore does not pollute the environment. Since no greenhouse gases are emitted, geothermal energy does not add to the greenhouse effect. It also does not affect local ecosystems because geothermal plants do not need a lot of space. However, depending on where the drilling occurs, minerals and gases that are hazardous can be released. These hazardous materials may be hard to dispose of or clean and can cause serious hazards during construction.

Location

• While geothermal plants do not need a lot of space, they do need to be located where hot rocks are found at appropriate drilling depths. These hot rocks are areas in the Earth where the molten rock from the Earth's core is close to the surface, heating up the rocks near the surface. Additionally, the soil and rock above the hot rock area must be rock that can easily be drilled. Iceland has used geothermal plants for many years but there are not many spots on the Earth where geothermal energy can be used.

Duration

• While geothermal energy is very reliable and can be long lasting, geothermal areas can also run dry and stop working. It is not possible to predict when the geothermal area will run dry, nor is it possible to simply restart the plant. Scientists and engineers cannot control the molten rock underneath the Earth's surface, and if the flow of rock should change, the hot rocks will no longer be hot.