Thur: Renewable (Energy)

Renew: verb

to make effective for an additional period: to renew a lease.
to restore or replenish



















Ok, it's two words, but "Renewable Energy" is one idea. Ok, I take that back, it's many ideas under one concept: Power derived from natural resources. The list includes electromagnetic radiation, (aka sunlight), wind, geothermal heat, rain, rivers, even the tides.

These ideas are not new: we've been harvesting the power of the rivers and the wind for years, and solar power is starting to catch on. But these are not the only options. Geothermal Energy is one of these alternatives. Literally meaning "heat from the earth", Geothermal Energy uses steam and hot water in three fundamental ways. First, it heats by conduction, that is direct heating and use taking from springs, wells & reservoirs. Second, it uses the hot water or steam, which must be between 300-700 degrees Fahrenheit, and uses it in power plants to generate electricity. This is called hydrothermal use, and the wells must reach 2-3 miles below the earth's surface. The final geothermal concept relies on the constant temperature that lies about 15 feet or more beneath the earths surface, pumping the heat up using Geothermal Heat Pumps.

I know this runs off on a tangent from my photographs, but this project has left me wondering what's happening to America as gasoline and oil continues to be problematic, economically and possibly environmentally. I've been hesitant to jump on the "green" bandwagon, and I'm not doing so now, however I am willing to explore options. They say good visual art solves a conceptual problem; maybe while we artists are at it, we can solve some physical problems as well.



Kump, Lee, and Kasting, James. The Earth System. 2nd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson, 2004