Geothermal Energy

1296 Words3 Pages

I. Culture of Iceland - II. History of Geothermal Technology Culture of Iceland Iceland, the northernmost country in Europe, is a Nordic island in the Atlantic Ocean that borders the Arctic Circle. It is one of the most geologically active places in the world, and is home to numerous volcanoes, geysers, and hot springs. Iceland has a total land area of 39,770 square miles with Reykjavik as their capital, and 2,796 square miles of water area. Their total population consists of about 317,593 people. (Aronson, 2010) Iceland is a constitutional republic; a state where the head of state and other officials are representatives of the people and must govern according to existing constitutional law that limits the government's power over all of its citizens. Iceland became a republic on June 17, 1944, when it declared total independence from Denmark. The constitution provides municipalities with the right to manage their own affairs. The constitution also guarantees equality under the law regardless of sex, race, and religion. The central Icelandic government has an executive branch, a legislative branch, and a judicial branch. The executive branch consists of the president, who does not have much executive power; the head of government, or prime minister, who, along with the cabinet has the most executive power; and the cabinet, a body selected from the parliament either by the president or political party leaders within the parliament. The president and the parliament are elected by the people. Universal suffrage permits all residents 18 years old and over to vote for the president and the Althingi. The president and Althingi members serve four-year terms. (Aronson, 2010) Iceland's economy is based mainly on the s... ... middle of paper ... ...Kroeker designed the first commercial geothermal heat pump to heat the Commonwealth Building in Portland, Oregon and demonstrated it in 1946. In 1960, Pacific Gas and Electric began operation of the first successful geothermal electric power plant in the United States at The Geysers in California. The original turbine lasted for more than 30 years and produced 11 MW net power. The binary cycle power plant was first demonstrated in 1967 in the U.S.S.R. and later introduced to the U.S. in 1981. This technology allows the generation of electricity from much lower temperature resources than previously. (Wikipedia, 2011) Works Cited Aronson, J. (2010, May). Our world: Iceland. Great Neck Publishing. Wikipedia.org. (2011, January 16). Geothermal energy. Retrieved from Wikipedia.org: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Geothermal_energy&oldid=408206929

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