How does thermal energy work?
DeanD
Thermal energy is created by the addition of heat to a substance. Thermal energy that humans use to provide heat or electricity is harnessed in three ways: from the sun, from within the earth or by burning combustible materials, such as coal and fuel oil. For utility-scale electricity, each source requires a different way to harness thermal energy, but all involve the creation of heat to spin a turbine that produces electricity.
For solar thermal energy plants, large mirrors are used to reflect sunlight onto pipes or a central tower containing water or another substance. When that substance is solar-heated, it boils to create steam and spin the turbine. To harness thermal energy from the earth - called geothermal energy - deep holes are drilled into the crust, where rock is superheated by the earth's molten core. Water is heated in these deep layers of rock and pumped to the surface, where it creates steam. In a fossil-fueled power plant, coal is burnt off; the heat (or thermal energy) created is used to drive some kind of rotating machinery to produce electricity. Some fossil-fuel plants use combustion to create steam, but this reduces the overall efficiency of the plant.
It is the "burning off" of fossil fuels that is causing the troublesome pollution in our skies. For that reason, solar thermal and geothermal energy are fast gaining support and popularity amongst governments, businesses, utilities and the general population.
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