Geothermal energy
Mary H. Dickson and Mario Faneb (:E&.)
John Wile14 1995, 21 4pp., Ll9.9.5, ISBX 0 471 9.5366 0
Which unconventional energy source currently provides
nearly 7000 MW, of electricity, 11 000 MWI of useful
heat, can compete in some places with hydroelectric
generation and is virtually unknown outside a small circle
of practitioners? If you said geothermal energy without
having first peeked at the subject of this review, there is a
fair chance that it is because you are one of that circle. For
some reason, this is one energy resource that remains
stubbornly unknown to the great majority of people,
even those within the utility industries.
As part of the attempt to redress the balance,
UNESCO have included geothermal energy among the
first four volumes of its Energy Engineering Learning
Package. By choosing Mary Dickson and Mario FaneUl
as editors, they have ensured that the International
Institute of Geothermal Researchs twenty-plus years of
teaching experience have been applied to the selection of
material presented. Correctly recognising that the larger
geothermal installations are already well catered for, the
editors have focused on the opportunities presented
world-wide for the development of comparatively smal-
scale units where one of the main hurdles to be overcome
is the unfamiliarity of general utility and service engineers
with the special requirements of a geothermal supply
They have assembled a team of internationally recognised
specialists who contribute chapters on power generation
(at the 3-10 MW, scale), domestic and industrial heating
and cooling, horticulture, aquaculture and industrial
process technology. Unlike the majority of geothermal
publications, which tend to concentrate on the earth
science aspects, this book gives only enough background
on the upstream issues to help prospective users
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96
understand the opportunities and limitations. It is aimed
firmly at already--practisingengineers who do not need,
for example, an explanation of a temperature-entropy
diagram.
Each chapter follows the now-familiar pattern of a
distance-learning textbook, starting with a statement of
aims and objectives and concluding with a set of self-
assessment questions (with answers). They provide
comprehensive coverage, with just suficient detail to
illustrate all the main points, together with a useful
number of worked examples. All include a few references
and suggestions for further reading, the vast majority
published within the last few years, though I felt that some
lists could have been expanded slightly without becoming
too academic.
I have only one significant criticism: several of the
American authors have been allowed to present their data
and calculations .in Imperial units, with SI conversions in
brackets in the text but with many of the diagrams
unconverted. At best, this detracts from readability and
comparison between chapters. Even worse, in some
places (and compounded by the fact that two of the
factors in the Introductory Conversion table have become
transposed-ne of the few printing errors which I
identified in the book) the stated conversions are wildly
inaccurate.
In the overall impression of the book, however, this is
a small point. When the next edition appears, as I am
confident that it will, I am sure that this problem will be
addressed. Meanwhile, if any book can begin to spread
the word on geothermal energy to a wider audience, I
believe that this IS it. JOHN GARNISH