Imagined What it could do
Imagine a ring of log seats around a warm stone hearth, heated not by burning wood but by hot water piped up from deep in the earth. On cold nights, the whole village gathers here.
Real world Heat from inside the Earth
The deep inside of the Earth is very hot, and that heat slowly flows outward. In volcanic places like Iceland, hot water and steam lie close to the surface. Iceland pipes this hot water to homes through district heating networks, and about nine in ten Icelandic homes are heated by geothermal energy. It is also used to warm sidewalks, swimming pools and greenhouses.
Real world Earth energy everywhere
Even where there are no volcanoes, the ground a few meters down stays at a fairly steady temperature all year. A ground-source heat pump circulates fluid through pipes buried in the ground and uses that steady temperature to heat homes in winter and cool them in summer, using much less energy than ordinary heaters.
Art In this artwork
This illustration shows log benches in a ring around a lantern in the middle, with lanterns hanging in the trees, fireflies and flowers.
Look closer
- Find the lantern in the middle of the circle.
- Count the seats around it.
Think about it
- What makes an outdoor meeting place comfortable for everyone?
- Why might Iceland be especially good for geothermal energy?
- Where could your town get clean heat from?
Key words
- Geothermal
- Heat from inside the Earth.
- District heating
- Heating many buildings from one shared source.
- Heat pump
- A machine that moves heat from one place to another.
Sources
The real-world facts on this page are based on these sources:
- Government of Iceland, information on geothermal energy and district heating
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Geothermal energy"
