Google's parent company is investing in geothermal, a $34 billion energy source

Getty Images On July 6, Google 's parent company Alphabet' moonshot 'department X announced that it will establish a new geothermal company called Dandelion.

The company has raised $ 2 million in funds, said it is planning to drill the geothermal system in a cost-effective way, set it up at home and cool them.

Geothermal systems use renewable energy sources, some researchers calling huge possibilities. According to the Global Market Insight Report of 2017, the geothermal energy market price in 2016 will exceed $ 34 billion and will reach $ 57 billion by 2024. The United States is the world's largest consumer of geothermal power generation, but from today's geothermal energy comes about 0.4% electricity - enough for about 3 million Americans.

Dandelion exploits shallow geothermal energy, taking advantage of the fact that the ground below a certain depth maintains a relatively stable year of temperature. The ground essentially functions as a battery that removes heat or cools energy (called "perforation") by recycling the fluid through the underground pipe.

In the case of electricity, geothermal energy collapses slowly in radioactive particles, creating hot water and steam deep inside the earth. The center of the earth produces almost infinite amount of particles (and heat) making geothermal energy renewable. To generate electricity using geothermal energy, the energy company drills (usually about 4 feet deep) and pumps hot water or steam through the pipe into the room. The thermal power plant uses hot water to drive the generator

The heat above six miles of the crust contains 50,000 times the reserves of oil and gas in the world. Nonetheless, the world uses only 13,200 megawatts (about 6%) geothermal power capacity.

However, this proportion is expected to rise. According to current data, the Geothermal Energy Association predicts that the global geothermal industry will reach approximately 18,400 MW capacity by 2021.

Several factors have delayed the growth of geothermal energy in the United States, including cost, restrictions on obtaining the best plant location, and long project time. For example, many geothermal power plants need large amounts of high temperature groundwater accessible. According to the US energy agency, geothermal energy holds the greatest potential for growth in western countries such as California, Idaho, Utah and so on.

The average price per kilowatt is lower than other renewable energy sources, but the initial cost for introducing geothermal technology is high. Dandelion claims that the cost of geothermal power generation systems is lower than most systems currently on the market. Co-founder and CEO Kathy Hannun to CNBC said the company developed a more efficient tool for installing the system. By installing a dandelion system, she said homeowners would be able to prepay for $ 20 to $ 25,000, or $ 160 to $ 180 a month for 20 years.

In some parts of the world, geothermal systems are cost competitive with conventional energy sources such as coal and oil. As technology advances, it is expected that the cost of generating geothermal energy will decrease. Today's typical geothermal system will cost $ 0.05 to $ 0.08 / kWh (DOE). Because geothermal resources are very abundant in the United States, geothermal resources provide a large amount of safe energy to the United States. Geothermal power generation helps reduce oil import demand, decrease trade deficit, and increase employment opportunities in the US economy. Before geothermal power generation is regarded as an important element of the US energy infrastructure, it must be cost competitive compared to the traditional form of energy. For this purpose, the geothermal industry is working hard to achieve a geothermal energy lifecycle power cost of 0.03 US dollars / kWh with the help of the Department of Energy.

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Geothermal systems use renewable energy sources, some researchers calling huge possibilities. According to the Global Market Insight Report of 2017, the geothermal energy market price in 2016 will exceed $ 34 billion and will reach $ 57 billion by 2024. The United States is the world's largest consumer of geothermal power generation, but today's geothermal energy is only about 0.4%. Dandelion exploits shallow geothermal energy, taking advantage of the fact that the ground below a certain depth maintains a relatively stable year of temperature. The ground essentially functions as a battery that removes heat or cools energy (called "perforation") by recycling the fluid through the underground pipe.