Geothermal energy generation facilities operate by extracting hot water from the ground. The extracted water can contain large quantities of sulfur, salt, and a myriad of other chemicals. Generally, the system through which this is done also involves pumping the water, after having been utilized for energy generation, back into subterranean containment tanks. This is done to prevent any contamination of the surrounding grounds. Thus far, there have been no reported breaches of these containers, but it remains a possibility.
Additionally, water is required to cool the generators. This water is drawn from a reservoir, put to use as a coolant through which some of it is lost as steam and then finally recycled back into the original reservoir. The water contained in these reservoirs is not clean water, but no less does not contain any additional contaminants. In some cases these reservoirs use processed waste water.
As for atmospheric impacts, if a geothermal facility is using a closed loop system all gasses removed from the ground are returned, rendering no affect on the air. Other facilities release the extracted gas, after processing, directly into the air. This released gas contains a myriad of "not-so-great" substances, particularly sulfur dioxide. Scrubbers can be implemented to filter the expelled gas but this process produces a toxic mixture of water, mercury, nickel, arsenic and other metals. This toxic waste is disposed of at a dedicated waste containment facility.
No comments:
Post a Comment