Hirstenstein, A. (2016, July 20). These Clean Energy Projects Pollute More Than Coal Power Plants. Retrieved August 28, 2016, from
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-21/these-clean-energy-projects-pollute-more-t han-coal-power-plants
The main topic this article addresses is a kind of power plant that supplies a steady supply of clean energy from the natural heat of Earth: Geothermal plants. However, it was found evident that, in Turkey, some of these wells pollute the atmosphere as much as coal-fired power plants. The main substance emitted from these power plants is carbon dioxide. A graphic showed how much Turkey’s geothermal plants pollute the air compared to coal, lignite, and natural gas, revealing that lignite produced the most grams of carbon dioxide out of the three.
This article is related to environmental science because it calls into question the reality of different kinds of “environmentally friendly” power plants. Clearly stated in the article, the geothermal power plants were presented to be “clean” and “renewable”, however they were proved to be just as polluting as coal-fired power plants. I think this article is great because it is able to disprove the fact that “clean” power plants are not so clean after all.
It is interesting to learn that geothermal plants can cause as much pollution as coal-fired plants as I had always thought that geothermal plants were supposed to be more “environmentally friendly” than coal power plants as well.
It seems like your article focuses primarily on Turkey. Is there something special about Turkey’s plants or environment which might make them more likely to cause pollution?
Another thing to be concerned about when it comes to geothermal energy in California, is the potential causes in Earthquakes. Digging deep into the Earth’s surface may shift plates and cause and earthquake.