BENEFITS

Geothermal energy offers significant benefits, which include: 

• Building and using geothermal power plants has a very low impact on the environment. A few acres of land may be used, with some minor industrial looking buildings built on the area.
• Once produced, geothermal energy is nearly completely non-polluting. The energy is technically renewable and can be used as direct power source.
• Geothermal power plants are environmentally-friendly and leave few carbon footprints. The power plants generally do not expel pollutants into the air and they do not dump the extracted water somewhere on the surface.
• Geothermal power plants are relatively inexpensive to operate.
• Geothermal power plants are efficient and have a low environmental impact, making them good investments in the long run.
• Generally, the water drawn from the Earth is injected back down to resupply the source.

CHALLENGES

There are challenges to using geothermal energy, which include: 

• Geothermal energy is available from only certain regions on the planet.
• Initial drilling costs are expensive and the process is complex. The plants cost around $100 million dollars to build.
• Hot rocks must be managed well or the water can cool the rocks.
• Open system plants expel hydrogen sulfide, trace amounts of arsenic and other minerals, but the amount is very little and is not a major concern.