Forum Post: Geothermal Energy Apparently Angers Pele

I must say I am rather disappointed in OWS right now. The local Occupy group in my area has decided to protest against the use of geothermal energy because harvesting the earth’s natural heat offends their Hawaiian idol Pele. They claim that corporations brainwashed us into using geothermal energy and that the drilling has offended Pele to the point of poisoning the air and causing volcanic eruptions that happened decades ago. Geothermal energy has never been a hype promoted by corporations; it has also been kept quiet and out of the spotlight since electrical companies will lose money if geothermal energy is used. The earth’s heat is constantly replenishing and the only way to fully deplete a drilling source is to pour mass amounts of water over it. Geothermal energy is far more efficient than present fossil fuels so we’re better off switching than staying with fossil fuels. These Hawaiian fanatics would rather stay with fossil fuels than use the evil geothermal, solar, wind, and tidal energy sources. I must remind you that fossil fuels emit the largest amount of green-house gases in our atmosphere and about twenty-five percent more radiation from the sun is trapped by fossil fuels. I do not believe these idiots know that the heat can either be produced from heat absorbed form the sun or from drilling towards the Earth’s core. I’ll take this step by step for the lolo people.

Geothermal heat pumps can be used in countless locations. The process includes building a series of pipes into the ground and connecting them to either a water boiler or thermostat. A water pump pushes water into the pipes and as the water ventures through the pipes, the water becomes heated from the sun hitting the ground and arrives at its destination. Air conditioners and hot water supplies are efficiently managed through geothermal energy.

Geothermal power plants can be used in certain hot spots around the globe. Once a passage is drilled into the hot spot, a turbine is placed near the hot steam and the steam’s force turns the turbine. The turbine then connects to a generator which creates electricity. If using the beginning models, then a small amount of water can be thrown to create more steam. The beginning models also emit harmless water vapor into the ecosystem. There are three models to date and all new models will be using the more efficient binary-cycle systems. Binary-cycle systems do not emit vapor because they are built in closed loops which are combined with two different hydrothermal liquids to create steam in areas with moderate temperatures.

The International Geothermal Association reported that 10,715 megawatts of geothermal energy is present in 24 countries which generate 67,246 gigawatt hours and meet the needs of 60 million people. The total amount of every country’s energy consumption is 0.5 zettajoules per year. An MIT report in 2006 estimated that over 200 ZJ of geothermal energy can be harvested that day which would have the potential of powering the world for 400 years. 2,000 ZJ could be harvested with improved technology- thus 4,000 years of clean energy can be harnessed. The earth carries 13,000 ZJ worth of geothermal energy that is replenished every day and leaves numerous possibilities.

I am starting to have a theory that whenever something happens that corporations do not want, they throw mindless theories at the Hawaiian fanatics so that everyone will either be dumb enough to believe them or they will be too distracted by the mixed Hawaiian fanatics. Or Hawaiian fanatics are actually this dumb. They truly believe that the hot spots are emitting poison into the air by depleting oil wells and running off of fossil fuels even though the process has nothing to do with fossil fuels and oil wells! Whenever their argument is attacked, they fall back to saying Pele is angry that we are using geothermal energy. I have lost hope for them and for OWS if they are promoting this nonsense everywhere.