Unlike solar energy, which uses the sun to create electricity, geothermal energy uses the heat trapped deep below the earth’s core. The lava buried deep beneath our earth is as hot as the surface of the sun, and some of that heat escapes.
Currently, our world is in desperate need of alternative energy sources. Sure, fossil fuels — the energy source we’ve relied on for years – supply us with sufficient power. However, they are readily depleted and extremely harmful to our ecosystem. And if we truly want to aid in the preservation of our world, we must abandon the use of fossil fuels as soon as feasible. Fortunately for us, there are several alternate sources all around us. Solar energy and geothermal energy are two of these alternative energy sources.
The Difference Between Geothermal Energy And Solar Energy
Solar Energy
The term “solar energy” is actually rather simple to define. It simply implies that it generates energy by using the sun – either the light or the heat, or both. Even while that concept appears to be basic and clear, the actual process of solar energy production is everything but.
Photons are massless, microscopic particles that move at the speed of light. Photons are the building blocks of radio waves, microwaves, x-rays, UV rays, and visible light, and depending on the amount of energy in a particle, they can be any of these. And, believe it or not, the sun’s photonic discharge is the source of all climate and weather systems on Earth.
Geothermal Energy
Unlike solar energy, which uses the sun to create electricity, geothermal energy uses the heat trapped deep below the earth’s core. The lava buried deep beneath our earth is as hot as the surface of the sun, and some of that heat escapes. When this occurs, we will be able to use the heat to generate energy.
The word geothermal is derived from Greek and means “heat of the ground.” As a result, geothermal energy is unaffected by photon interactions from the sun. Rather, it is concerned with the energy contained in molecules deep within the ground. In truth, it has everything to do with the phrase “radioactivity” that we mentioned before.
The earth’s interior heat originates from a variety of sources, including the birth of our planet billions of years ago and radioactive decay. This natural process releases a great deal of energy, which is subsequently spread throughout the core, upper mantle, and crust. It’s at this time that we can take use of it.
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