What is geothermal energy used for?
• • Direct use of geothermal power – using hot water from the earth for purposes that include hot spring or health spa baths, heating buildings through district heating systems, growing crops, drying lumber, fruits and vegetables, shortening the time needed to grow fish, shrimp and abalone to maturity, pasteurizing milk and use under roads and sidewalks to keep them from icing over in the winter. • • Geothermal power plants – drilling deep underground into hydrothermal resources to use hot steam to turn generator turbines that produce electricity. • • Geothermal heat pumps – use constant temperatures in upper part of the earth’s surface to heat and cool buildings. (The U.S.
