What is geothermal energy?

Written By Matthew Clifford
If you were to dig a big hole straight down into the Earth, you would notice the temperature getting warmer the deeper you go. This heat is called geothermal energy. People can capture geothermal energy through Geothermal power plants, which u…

If you were to dig a big hole straight down into the Earth, you would notice the temperature getting warmer the deeper you go. This heat is called geothermal energy.

People can capture geothermal energy through Geothermal power plants, which use heat from deep inside the Earth to generate steam or hot water to make electricity. 

Cornwall has a unique source of geothermal energy; heat-producing granite “hot rocks”. At nearly 200 ̊C, the rocks 5km under Cornwall are hotter than anywhere else in the UK, making this the best place to exploit geothermal energy for both heat and power.   The CGDC will use sustainable geothermal “hot rocks” power and waste heat which is a by-product of the electricity generation process created by the United Downs Deep Geothermal Power project operated by Geothermal Engineering Ltd.

Matthew Clifford