Geothermal Energy Disadvantages

You may have visited the hot springs of the Yellow Stone National Park and may have been amazed on seeing the Old Faithful, a hot water geyser. You may also know about the hot springs of Waiwera, in the New Zealand. Where does this water draws heat from? This hot spring water is heated by geothermal energy. To obtain this energy, also means dealing with geothermal energy disadvantages. Let's look into the phenomenon and go over the geothermal energy disadvantages.

What is Geothermal Energy?
There are many critics who point out that the geothermal energy disadvantages outweigh its advantages. The geothermal energy which is entrapped in the Earth's crust, is a free source of renewable energy. At the core of the Earth, the superheated fluids exist under tremendous pressure. In certain parts of the world, especially, in areas where volcanoes are present and the fault areas, where continents rub with each other, we can obtain geothermal energy. We can do this, by boring wells into the earth, and by pumping water in it. It is seen that hot water rises back to the surface. The temperature of this water could be as high as hundreds of degrees Celsius and may erupt on the Earth's surface in the form of steam. This steam could be used to drive turbines, which produce electricity for us to use.

What are the Disadvantages of Geothermal Energy?
If geothermal energy is so free and easy to obtain; then why is there a discussion on geothermal energy disadvantages? Why is everyone not hurrying to bore a well and start producing and selling electricity? What are the disadvantages of geothermal energy and do the disadvantages outweigh its advantages?

Geothermal Energy Disadvantage #1 - Location
Drilling a well into the earth, is a hard task. To make this task economically viable, an ideal site for drilling a well in order to trap geothermal energy, must provide hot rocks in the layer of the Earth's crust that would heat the water pumped into the well at suitable level. Next, it must be easy enough to bore a well to the hot rocks. This can be achieved, only if the layer of rocks sitting above the hot rocks are easy to drill through. The use of geothermal energy is hampered because of the low number of suitable sites to drill a well. Critics of geothermal energy say that such a project may only be useful to provide electricity or heat to the local area only. In this case, remoteness of the site may well negate its usefulness.

Geothermal Energy Disadvantage #2 - Gases
Geothermal energy cannot be used without its hazards. Important among the disadvantages of geothermal energy are the chances of hazardous gases, like hydrogen sulfide coming to the surface of the Earth, along with the hot water. Materials like arsenic, mercury, ammonia, which may cause health hazards may also come up with the hot water. These materials, which could cause environmental pollution, are not easy to deal with.

Geothermal Energy Disadvantage #3 - Lifespan
As the sites, where you can obtain easy access to the hot rocks, are located in areas of volcanoes, investors are not willing to invest in such areas. Those sites in the fault areas will always be under the threat of earthquakes. There are also chances of steam production not coming up to the mark, which may make the project economically difficult to sustain. The movements of the layers of the Earth or rock may cause the well to dry up, which may lead to the closure of the electricity plant and financial losses. This uncertainty over the lifespan of the project is big enough, to count it as the biggest disadvantage of geothermal energy. Read more: geothermal energy facts.

I have not covered the advantages of the geothermal energy here, but the geothermal energy disadvantages look intimidating enough. It is granted that using geothermal energy for producing electricity is cleaner, than using fossil fuels, which contribute to global warming, by producing greenhouse gases. Until and unless, we can evolve the technology that can handle the disadvantages of geothermal energy discussed above, in a satisfactory manner, using geothermal energy as a dependable source of energy is going to be difficult.