Scientists Develop Geothermal Power Plant.

CALIFORNIA - Researchers at the Department of Energy (DOE) United States (U.S.) Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) proposes to make the development of new clean energy sources.

They will perform tests at power plants in the next year. If all goes well, then the U.S. will have a new method for producing electricity at the bottom of the earth. This approach will also contribute to reducing the environmental impact of production techniques.

Berkeley Lab team developed a way to create electricity from geothermal flows, using carbon dioxide (CO2). Currently harmful greenhouse gases are emitted in large quantities at power plants that use fossil fuels.

According to the research team, the instrument's first test will take place in a field located in Cranfield, Mississippi, in early 2012. They will build a power plant in the container shipping and they also play a role in the test and see if the process technology developed by this group work or not. It is quoted Softpedia Tuesday (09/08/2011).

Production of electricity in this way is very neutral and environmentally friendly, new approaches will also contribute enough to eliminate the effects of global warming causing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

One way to do this is to keep dangerous gases underground. The new approach was developed with funding from the DOE also proposed a mechanism for storing CO2. Project components will also be tested in the next year.

"This is the first project that is intended to convert geothermal energy and CO2 into useful electricity," explained study leader Barry Freifeld and Sciences Division at Berkeley Lab mechanical engineer.

He describes a technique that relies on the injection of CO2 into the layers of crust with a depth of more than 3.2 kilometers, which is heated with an average temperature of approximately 125 degrees Celsius to make the gas entering the supercritical state.

Once conversion occurs, the chemical is then drawn back to the surface, and placed in a turbine capable of removing heat, and convert it into electricity.

Once this is done, the carbon dioxide is fed back into the soil and the cycle repeats. As time passed, more and more goods will remain stuck in the ground and the new amount will be added to keep the system running smoothly.

"Carbon storage requires a lot of strength such as large pumps and compressors. We may be able to lower the cost to produce electricity in addition," knot Freifeld.

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