5. Find the paragraphs in the text where it is said about:

1. the sixth age of geothermal development;

2. prehistory of geothermal energy;

3. the period of stagnation for geothermal development;

4. sophisticated techniques of exploration and interpretation.

Translate the paragraphs into Russian.

6. Say whether the following statements are true or false according to the information in the text.

1. From prehistory, natural hot springs have been used by man foi heating and watering.

2. The second age - the managed exploitation of heat from the Earth] - really began about fifty years ago with the first piped heatind systems in Europe and USA.

3. The third age (ca. 1950—1970) was a period of slow consolida-j tion, with systems developing slowly.

4. The fourth age (1973—1980) was the golden age of geothermal energy.

5. By operating geothermal systems as a closed loop, and reinjecting! the contaminants along with the cooled water, the environmental impact can be increased.

7. Read the text above once again and make up a list of the key words and topic sen­tences.

8. Determine the main idea of each paragraph.

9. Speak on the seven ages of geothermal development.

Part 2

• Answer the questions using the information from the text below. Think of the title to the text.

1. What is an example of a geothermal direct use application?

2. What technology allows high efficiency?

3. When are there no C0₂ emissions?

4. How many units have been established in Louisiana?

5. Where is currently the main activity?

6. What countries are the members of the Geothermal Heat Pump Consortium?

7. What are the benefits of geothermal technology?

Geothermal heat pumps, or ground-source heat pumps, for heating and cooling buildings are a rapidly growing example of a geothermal direct use application. The technology has developed almost without publicity in recent years to become a significant new factor in the supply equation. This is an electrically-based technology that allows high ef­ficiency, reversible, water-source heat pumps to be installed in build­ings in most geographical and geological locations (worldwide). The combination of increasing levels of electrical generation efficien­cy, with the impressive energy amplification' of geothermal heat pumps means that space heating can be delivered with effective efficiencies that exceed² 100%. The "additional" energy is supplied from the ground. In addition these systems also offer highly efficient cool­ing. The types of buildings that are using ground-source heating and cooling in this manner range from small utility or public housing, through to very large (MW-sized) institutional or commercial build-mgs. This technology can offer up to 40% reductions in C0₂ emissions against competing technologies. If all of the electricity is supplied from non-fossil sources, there are no C0₂ emissions associated with heating and cooling a building.

Recently, several large-scale arrays³ have been installed to feed larg-^er systems where suitable supplies of deep geothermal water are not ^available. In the largest development to date, 4000 units - each with its own borehole - have been established on a US Army base in Loui-^{Slana to} provide heating and cooling.

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Section I. Power Engineering _Unit 5. Geothermal Energy

47

The concept was developed independently in the US and Europl and, although Sweden and Switzerland have installed many thousand) of units to provide winter heating in houses, the pace of installation iJ the USA and Canada during the last fifteen years has overtakerl the European rate. There are now believed to be well over a quarter J a million installations in place in North America.

While the main activity is currently in the USA, there are a growinl number of installations in Canada, Sweden, Switzerland, Austria anq Germany. Smaller numbers are being installed in other European coun tries, and in Australia. The Geothermal Heat Pump Consortium cub rently has over 750 institutional, corporate and commercial members! and 40 international members from countries including AustraliJ Canada, China, Croatia, Finland, Germany, India, Japarl the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Sweden, Turkey, and the UK. I

Ground-source heat pumps are perhaps the first indication oi the seventh age of geothermal technology, breaking the final barrier ol geographical availability.

To sum up: geothermal technology offers many benefits — clean! indigenous, firm energy — but suffers from economic uncertainties and geographical limitations. These problems are being actively addressed and future prospects seem bright.

1 — усиление; 2 — превышают; 3 - структуры; 4 - обогнал