full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Jean-Baptiste P. Koehl: Iceland's superpowered underground volcanoes

Unscramble the Blue Letters


Whether geothermal enregy is rtndaiiag just below our feet, or heating water several kilometers deep, the plnaet is constantly radiating heat. Averaged across one year, Earth gives off roughly three tiems more energy than humanity consumes. So why does geothermal only account for 0.2% of humanity’s energy production?

The answer has to do with heat, ltoiocan, and cost. Since geothermal heat pmups rely on the consistent heat found in slahlow eatrh, they can be implemented almost anywhere. But geothermal power plants require tapping into high-temperature geothermal fields; regions hotter than 180 degrees and typically several kilometres underground. These high temperature zones are hard to find, and drilling this deep for just one of the several wlles a plant will need can cost up to $20 million. There are regions with shallower geothermal fdiels. Iceland and Japan are near active volcanoes and tectonic palte benoiuadrs, where magma rises up through the crust. But these same factors also make those regions prone to earthquakes, which can also be triggered by intensive drilling.

Open Cloze


Whether geothermal ______ is _________ just below our feet, or heating water several kilometers deep, the ______ is constantly radiating heat. Averaged across one year, Earth gives off roughly three _____ more energy than humanity consumes. So why does geothermal only account for 0.2% of humanity’s energy production?

The answer has to do with heat, ________, and cost. Since geothermal heat _____ rely on the consistent heat found in _______ _____, they can be implemented almost anywhere. But geothermal power plants require tapping into high-temperature geothermal fields; regions hotter than 180 degrees and typically several kilometres underground. These high temperature zones are hard to find, and drilling this deep for just one of the several _____ a plant will need can cost up to $20 million. There are regions with shallower geothermal ______. Iceland and Japan are near active volcanoes and tectonic _____ __________, where magma rises up through the crust. But these same factors also make those regions prone to earthquakes, which can also be triggered by intensive drilling.

Solution


  1. wells
  2. location
  3. earth
  4. plate
  5. planet
  6. times
  7. pumps
  8. fields
  9. radiating
  10. shallow
  11. energy
  12. boundaries

Original Text


Whether geothermal energy is radiating just below our feet, or heating water several kilometers deep, the planet is constantly radiating heat. Averaged across one year, Earth gives off roughly three times more energy than humanity consumes. So why does geothermal only account for 0.2% of humanity’s energy production?

The answer has to do with heat, location, and cost. Since geothermal heat pumps rely on the consistent heat found in shallow earth, they can be implemented almost anywhere. But geothermal power plants require tapping into high-temperature geothermal fields; regions hotter than 180 degrees and typically several kilometres underground. These high temperature zones are hard to find, and drilling this deep for just one of the several wells a plant will need can cost up to $20 million. There are regions with shallower geothermal fields. Iceland and Japan are near active volcanoes and tectonic plate boundaries, where magma rises up through the crust. But these same factors also make those regions prone to earthquakes, which can also be triggered by intensive drilling.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
geothermal heat 3
heat pumps 3
degrees celsius 2
geothermal power 2
geothermal energy 2

ngrams of length 3

collocation frequency
geothermal heat pumps 3

Important Words


  1. account
  2. active
  3. answer
  4. averaged
  5. boundaries
  6. consistent
  7. constantly
  8. consumes
  9. cost
  10. crust
  11. deep
  12. degrees
  13. drilling
  14. earth
  15. earthquakes
  16. energy
  17. factors
  18. feet
  19. fields
  20. find
  21. geothermal
  22. hard
  23. heat
  24. heating
  25. high
  26. hotter
  27. humanity
  28. iceland
  29. implemented
  30. intensive
  31. japan
  32. kilometers
  33. kilometres
  34. location
  35. magma
  36. million
  37. planet
  38. plant
  39. plants
  40. plate
  41. power
  42. production
  43. prone
  44. pumps
  45. radiating
  46. regions
  47. rely
  48. require
  49. rises
  50. roughly
  51. shallow
  52. shallower
  53. tapping
  54. tectonic
  55. temperature
  56. times
  57. triggered
  58. typically
  59. underground
  60. volcanoes
  61. water
  62. wells
  63. year
  64. zones