Central America to Tap Volcanoes for Renewable Energy
Posted By Cameron Scott On September 21, 2010 @ 6:52 pm In Renewable Energy | No Comments
[4]
The troubled and impoverished region of Central America is rich in one thing: volcanoes. Spurred by increasing demand for electricity, several countries are thundering mountains’ energy into watts [5]. Geothermal [6] plants can use the water heated by the molten earth beneath volcanoes to drive turbines. The plants are expensive to build, but, once built, they are long-lasting, reliable, and do less environmental damage than hydroelectric dams [7] or fossil fuel sources.
[8]Photo © Eduardo Robles [9]
Guatemala, which already has two geothermal plants, is offering tax breaks on the equipment needed to build more in hopes of getting 60 percent of its power from a combination of geothermal and hydroelectric sources by 2022. Costa Rica already operates four plants and will bring a fifth online early next year; it’s considering an additional two. El Salvador and Nicaragua are also expanding geothermal power from volcanoes.
How about some international loans to support these encouraging developments [10]?
Via Reuters [11]
Lead photo © Alphabet City [12]
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URL to article: http://inhabitat.com/central-america-to-tap-volcanoes-for-renewable-energy/
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[3] Email: mailto:?subject=http://inhabitat.com/central-america-to-tap-volcanoes-for-renewable-energy/
[4] Image: http://inhabitat.com/2010/09/21/central-america-to-tap-volcanoes-for-renewable-energy/guatemalacityvolcanoes/
[5] thundering mountains’ energy into watts: http://inhabitat.com/2010/04/26/indonesia-plans-to-harness-4000-megawatts-of-power-from-volcanoes/
[6] Geothermal: http://inhabitat.com/2010/08/26/americas-first-geothermal-powered-ikea-coming-to-denver/
[7] hydroelectric dams: http://inhabitat.com/2010/07/28/flooding-threatens-to-overwhelm-chinas-three-gorges-dam/
[8] Image: http://inhabitat.com/2010/09/21/central-america-to-tap-volcanoes-for-renewable-energy/tacana/
[9] Eduardo Robles: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Volcan_Tacana_01.jpg
[10] encouraging developments: http://inhabitat.com/2010/09/02/peace-corps-to-start-clean-energy-program-in-the-americas/
[11] Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE68K2OD20100921
[12] Alphabet City: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Guatemalacityvolcanoes01.jpg
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