February 11, 2005

Moira Cruickshanks Geothermal Q&A

Moira Cruickshanks of Imperial College London Engineering Department answers your questions on Geothermal Energy next week in our forum. Here she introduces ways you can use Geothermal Energy.

Post your questions for Moira in the Off-Grid Forum.

Geothermal energy is heat from the Earth. On a large scale, geothermal power plants generate electricity using naturally heated groundwater and steam from deep in the ground to turn turbines.

But we can also use geothermal on a small scale to heat our homes, schools and offices, although it is not yet an off-grid technology. If you want to supplement your grid energy with a renewable off-grid supply, either taking advantage of natural hotspots in the Earth or using the constant temperature of the planet to regulate interior temperatures, you will need to make an initial investment in the technology, and the scale is more for a community than a single home.

It is not quite as easy as plugging a wire into the earth and then lying back and toasting your toes but almost. Go to our Forum to ask questions and get answers on installing Geothermal: https://off-grid.net/index.php?cat=30…