Article: Clean Energy from Filthy Water Author: Jane Braxton Little Main Points: 12 million gallons of wastewater

r are treated through a pipeline to a mountain top 40 miles from the city The water is then injected into an aquifer a mile and a half underground The hot rocks boil the water into steam and then piped to the surface to drive electricitygenerating turbines It can make 200 megawatts of electricity neighboring town of Windsor signed a 30-year agreement in November 2008 allowing it to pump 700,000 gallons of effluent a day into the Santa Rosa pipeline John D. Grant was building the nations first geothermal power plant at the Geysers Grant eventually produced 250 kilowatts of electricity Generating 200 megawatts of electricity from waste water has displaced two billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions annually Calpine used 2.5 million dollars worth of its own geothermal electricity annually to pump the water to the peak of the mountain In 2009 residents found themselves facing an even greater possibility of earthquakes from an experimental project under construction outside the Geysers The people say that they dont feel the earthquakes In 30 years of monitoring the highest earthquake was a 4.5 The experts say that a earthquake with a magnitude of 8 can be really bad

Making 200 megawatts of electricity from wastewater can reduce greenhouse emissions by 2 billion pounds in one year

Summary: Wastewater is being used to make electricity. The water is injected underground and the heated rocks boil the water. That boiled water turns into steam which drives electricity-generating turbines. This process reduces the greenhouse emissions about 2 billion pounds a year. The bad thing about this process is that it can increase the chance of earthquakes from happening. From 30 years of recording earthquakes the highest was a 4.5.

My thoughts: I think that geothermal plants are a great idea. They reduce the greenhouse emissions and create a lot of electricity. The only bad thing about this is that it can cause more earthquakes. There should be geothermal plants were it is needed but not everywhere because then earthquakes are more likely to happen. So what? Says Who?

Geothermal plants produce electricity and Jane Braxton Little benefits the humanity What if? What does this remind me of?

Geothermal plants make a higher chance of It reminds me solar power plants earthquakes