Article Title: Clean Energy from Filthy Water
Author: Jane Braxton Little
Santa Rosa and Calpine Corporation are teaming up in the world's largest geothermal wastewater-to-power project. They are using urban waste to generate clean energy, improving life for humans and for fish also. The Obama Administration says that geothermal energy is a clean energy source. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, this technique could supply 10 percent of the nation’s electricity by 2050, or higher. The first step in the process of generating clean energy by using waste is pumping the treated wastewater through a pipeline to a mountaintop and then it is injected into an underground aquifer.
gallons of treated wastewater through a pipeline to a mountaintop and then injects it down into an aquifer underground. There hot rocks boil the water into steam, which is piped to the surface to power electricity-generating turbines. However, ever since Calpine began injecting effluent into the ground; local residents have experienced an increase in earthquakes. Luckily, the earthquakes are not very big and most tremors don't cause damage but shake items off shelves and even crack building foundations. But using wastewater to generate electricity has more advantages than disadvantages. For example, greenhouse gas emissions have been effectively reduced by two billion pounds a year in Santa Rosa by using that process. Also, the city also stopped pouring waste into rivers and stopped needing to build new storage and treatment facilities. In addition, there is more freshwater in the streams for the fish because less freshwater is withdrawn now that wastewater is used.
It seems to me that using wastewater to generate electricity is a great idea! We won't have to use freshwater so there will be more for us and the fish. Since, many people produce waste, we wouldn't run out of wastewater to use and the best part of this is that no greenhouse gasses are released. Although there are many advantages, there has to be disadvantages too. But I think that this method is the least problematic; the disadvantages can be avoided. One of the cons is that there are more earthquakes but these earthquakes are not very large. Large earthquakes could be avoided if the geothermal power plants are not located on or near major faults. Otherwise, besides earthquakes, there are no other main problems associated with geothermal energy!
Author: Jane Braxton Little
- Santa Rosa and Calpine Corporation are partners in the world's largest geothermal wastewater-to-power project.
- They are using urban waste to generate clean energy, improving life for humans and for fish also.
- The Santa Rosa Geysers Recharge Project pumps 12 millions gallons of treated wastewater through a pipeline to a mountaintop and then injects it down into an aquifer underground.
- There hot rocks boil the water into steam, which is piped to the surface to power electricity-generating turbines.
- Another project in Lake County recycles eight million gallons of wastewater a day. Together, 200 megawatts of electricity is generated, which is equivalent to a power plant, but without discharging greenhouse gases or pollutants into the atmosphere.
- The Obama Administration says that geothermal energy is a clean energy source.
- According to the U.S. Department of Energy, this technique could supply 10 percent of the nation’s electricity by 2050, or higher.
- However, small earthquakes are triggered by extracting steam; residents near the Calpine project have complained about the ground shaking.
- Calpine’s steamfields were failing. But city wastewater could replenish the resource.
- All the drilling and pumping impacted the steam fields. Rainfall couldn't seep into the sandstone reservoir fast enough to refill the reserves.
- Wastewater is processed in three stages along its way to the tank: physical treatment in sedimentation tanks to remove grease, oil, and other pollutants; biological treatment to break down organic matter and remove nutrients and additional compounds; and carbon filtration to remove remaining organic matter and parasites.
- The wastewater is then exposed to ultraviolet light to kill any bacteria left.
- The water is then stored before being injected into steam fields.
- At the power plants, steam tapped from the ground turns turbines and then condenses into water that is cooled before it is reinjected into the ground.
- Since Calpine began injecting effluent into the ground; local residents have experienced an increase in earthquakes; most tremors don't cause damage but shake items off shelves and crack building foundations.
- By using wastewater to generate electricity, greenhouse gas emissions have been effectively reduced by two billion pounds a year in Santa Rosa.
- The city also stopped pouring waste into rivers and eliminated the need to build new storage and treatment facilities.
- There is more freshwater in the streams for the fish because Calpine is now using wastewater instead of withdrawing freshwater.
Santa Rosa and Calpine Corporation are teaming up in the world's largest geothermal wastewater-to-power project. They are using urban waste to generate clean energy, improving life for humans and for fish also. The Obama Administration says that geothermal energy is a clean energy source. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, this technique could supply 10 percent of the nation’s electricity by 2050, or higher. The first step in the process of generating clean energy by using waste is pumping the treated wastewater through a pipeline to a mountaintop and then it is injected into an underground aquifer.
gallons of treated wastewater through a pipeline to a mountaintop and then injects it down into an aquifer underground. There hot rocks boil the water into steam, which is piped to the surface to power electricity-generating turbines. However, ever since Calpine began injecting effluent into the ground; local residents have experienced an increase in earthquakes. Luckily, the earthquakes are not very big and most tremors don't cause damage but shake items off shelves and even crack building foundations. But using wastewater to generate electricity has more advantages than disadvantages. For example, greenhouse gas emissions have been effectively reduced by two billion pounds a year in Santa Rosa by using that process. Also, the city also stopped pouring waste into rivers and stopped needing to build new storage and treatment facilities. In addition, there is more freshwater in the streams for the fish because less freshwater is withdrawn now that wastewater is used.
It seems to me that using wastewater to generate electricity is a great idea! We won't have to use freshwater so there will be more for us and the fish. Since, many people produce waste, we wouldn't run out of wastewater to use and the best part of this is that no greenhouse gasses are released. Although there are many advantages, there has to be disadvantages too. But I think that this method is the least problematic; the disadvantages can be avoided. One of the cons is that there are more earthquakes but these earthquakes are not very large. Large earthquakes could be avoided if the geothermal power plants are not located on or near major faults. Otherwise, besides earthquakes, there are no other main problems associated with geothermal energy!