What are the energy end-uses for geothermal?

There are three main uses for geothermal energy:

1. Direct use and District heating systems use hot water from springs or reservoirs near the surface where the geothermal heat is used directly for heating or cooling spaces, food preparation, often in agriculture or in certain industrial processes. An interesting statistic that illustrates the range of the 470MW installed capacity of direct use systems in the US is that this is equivalent to what would be needed to heat 40,000 average-sized homes.
2. Electricity generation in a power plant requires water or steam at very high temperatures (i.e., at 300ºF to 700ºF). Geothermal power plants typically are constructed where geothermal reservoirs are located within a mile or two of the surface. In order to develop electricity from geothermal resources, wells are drilled into geothermal reservoirs.
3. Geothermal Heat Pumps (GHPs) use stable ground or water temperatures that are near the earth's surface to control building temperatures above ground. To provide cooling or heating GHPs circulate water (or other liquids) through pipes that are buried in a loop formation. The U.S. EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) considers these pumps to be one of the most efficient heating and cooling systems currently available. [1]

Research by Eva Patry