18 March 2009

No Water no Humanity - Safe the forest

Declining forest coverage is certainly reducing geothermal potential. Geothermal literally means earth heat. Heat from the earth's core is brought to the surface by many means e.g. hot water and lava. Geothermal electric power plant is using heater underground water to spin the turbine and generator. Heated underground water gathers in a place called geothermal reservoir. There is a strong relationship between geothermal electric power and water availability especially underground water. Picture: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/Geothermal_energy_methods.png (18/3/09)


Underground water flows in an earth layer called aquifer. this layer is permeable (penetrable) and therefore the water flows in it. This layer might rise at certain earth area and this area is usually a very good water catchment area or recharge area. there are also shallow aquifers where surface water can penetrate the soil and create shallow flows of water. In both cases, soil absorption capability is very important. Soil absorption capability is very much depending on the soil coverage (e.g. forest). Certain trees or plants have very good water absorption. Forest cutting and land clearing and also land development have created severe damage to the water table condition. Forest cutting means reducing soil coverage and thus reducing the capability of soil to absorb water and therefore little or even no water is recharged to the aquifer. Land development (usually by paving or tarmac or houses) increases the surface flow and reduce water absorption to nearly zero and the effect is the same. Picture: http://belmont.sd62.bc.ca/teacher/geology12/photos/erosion-water/aquifer.jpg (18/3/09).

Mentioned earlier, geothermal needs water to be heated in the aquifer. If there is little water recharged then the pressure of the steam will also be low and therefore it will not be very attractive to explore that particular geothermal potential further.

It is very much clearer now that human needs water. Human consist of water (80%). Man can live without food but not water. Water makes our food crops grow. Water feeds us. Water makes energy. Almost every power generator needs water to generate electricity. Water needs to be preserved and forest is the key. If the forest is dying there will be no more humanity.

As for geothermal energy, it will still be renewable as long as there is forest.

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