Geothermal power sources - renewable or not?

'Rock power: geothermal power simulations; modelling geothermal power sources – renewable or not?'

 

This activity uses a density can filled with gravel to model different forms of geothermal power sources. ‘Hydrothermal power’ can be extracted renewably, if heat is removed at a slower rate than it is accumulating from the heat source below. However, most hydrothermal power stations extract heat more quickly than it is accumulated, so they only have a finite life and will eventually close. In these cases, heat is being extracted at non-renewable rates.

Many activities relating to renewable power sources can be found in our 'net zero' Earthlearningidea series.