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Geothermal Resources , Environmental Aspects of

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Abbreviations

Aquiclude:

A geological formation which will not transmit water and is a barrier to vertical movement of geothermal fluid.

Aquifer:

A geological formation (or formations) which contains water or geothermal fluid and will allow fluid movement.

Downflow:

Flow of water down a path of high-permeability such as a fracture or a drillhole.

Enhanced geothermal system (EGS):

Also called “hot-dry rock”. A form of geothermal development in which heat is extracted from rocks that are hot but have low permeability and often low porosity. The rock is artificially fractured by pumping water into it to form a subsurface heat exchanger.

Epicenter:

The point on the Earth’s surface directly above the hypocenter or focus of an earthquake.

Groundwater:

Water, generally cold and of meteoric origin, which resides in near-surface aquifers and is often used for domestic and industrial purposes.

High-temperature system:

A geothermal system, or part thereof, containing fluid having a temperature greater than 150°C. c.f. Low-temperature system in which the temperature is less than 150°C. It can also be argued that the temperature limit be 180°C, since this is the temperature required for a self-discharging well in a liquid-dominated field.

Hydrothermal eruption:

An eruption resulting from a localized increase in steam pressure in near-surface aquifers exceeding the overlying lithostatic pressure, and the overburden is then ejected, generally forming a crater 5–500 m in diameter and up to 500 m in depth (although most are less than 10 m deep).

Hypocenter:

The point at which an earthquake occurs (i.e., the place of rupture), in three-dimensional co-ordinates (x, y, z) c.f. epicenter (x, y).

Injection (reinjection):

The process of returning waste water from a geothermal power station back into the ground. This is generally around the edges of the field and may not be into the production aquifer from which fluid is drawn off to the power station.

Liquid-dominated system:

A geothermal system, or part thereof, in which the pressure is hydrostatically controlled. c.f. Steam (vapor)-dominated system in which the pressure is steam static.

Non-condensible gas:

A gas present in geothermal fluid which does not become dissolved in the waste water after the fluid has been condensed.

Reservoir:

The region of a geothermal system from which geothermal fluid is withdrawn, or is capable of being withdrawn.

Permeability:

A measure of the ability of a geological formation to transmit a fluid.

Waste water:

Geothermal water from which energy has been extracted and is no longer required. This may be steam that has passed through turbines or a binary plant and been condensed, or separated water.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. GNS Science, Wairakei Geothermal Research Centre, Private Bag 2000, Taupo, New Zealand

    Dr. Trevor M. Hunt

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  1. Dr. Trevor M. Hunt
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Correspondence to Trevor M. Hunt .

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  1. RAMTECH LIMITED, Larkspur, CA, USA

    Robert A. Meyers

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Hunt, T.M. (2012). Geothermal Resources , Environmental Aspects of. In: Meyers, R.A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sustainability Science and Technology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0851-3_838

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