Becoming more environmentally friendly is more popular than ever and getting geothermal education and training for beginners helps you understand ways you, too, can become more energy efficient. Geothermal energy is clean and cost effective and comes in abundance.

Taking geothermal classes and reading material on the concepts of geothermal energy gives you a solid understanding of how geothermal energy works and gives you the base to make more advanced plans and strategies for becoming more energy efficient. Some ways you might want to learn the basics if you are a beginner include the following options:

1. Take geothermal courses online and use other online offerings to learn basic concepts.

2. Watch videos on geothermal education and training for beginners and study other visual images to analyze geothermal models.

3. Peruse through geothermal training websites to build a knowledge base, even if you are a beginner.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Get geothermal online training through webcasts and interactive websites

When you take geothermal training courses online, you can work at your own pace and around your own work schedule. Learn basic concepts and follow links to learn more as you take classes. Don't forget to quiz yourself on the understanding you retain.

I recommend: The Energy Center of Wisconsin offers a webcast that teaches basic concepts of geothermal technology. It includes information determining when and how to use geothermal technology and has a quiz at the end of the one-hour training to review material. The Geothermal Resources Council is a great online resource for those interested in basic geothermal facts. It offers classroom materials, videos, maps and opportunities to ask experts questions on the topic.

Get a geothermal energy education by watching videos and analyzing images

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and you will find this true as you take part in video geothermal energy education and study images representing basic geothermal concepts.

I recommend: GeoExchange.org teaches interested parties the basics in geothermal heating. It also offers a training video so you can learn about ground source heating at an elementary education level. The U.S. Department of Energy has a website dedicated to teaching interested parties basic geothermic information. It has images demonstrating concepts and clear information laden with links where you can go for more information.

Begin your geothermal training but sorting through education sites

No matter how basic or advanced your geothermal education is, you will find helpful information on sites dedicated to geothermal energy offerings. Find out information on the basics of geothermal energy by browsing through sites dedicated to geothermal energy.

I recommend: StudySphere provides a directory of kid-friendly links specific to geothermal energy. It also rates the websites. The Energy Information Administration is a great way for newbies to learn about geothermal news and concepts. It offers a basic overview of geothermal energy in addition to examples of geothermal resources worldwide.

Geothermal education and training is an important career move for anyone planning to enter the field. Whether you are using geothermal online training, attending a geothermal seminar, or planning for a degree in geothermal energy education, finding the learning facility that is a quality match for you takes time and patience.

Since it is a specialized field, finding the right geothermal classes can be a challenge. Once you find the right geothermal training program for you, though, your career opportunities expand, and hopefully you will continue on to put your new knowledge to good use.

To decide if geothermal education and training is right for you:

1. Determine what you want the outcome of your geothermal training to become. Are you hoping to land a job right away? Are you going as part of a four-year collegiate track? What are your career plans for after college? Are you simply taking a refresher course?

2. Factor in the time cost. Will you be working full time at another job while you take night classes. Are you free one night a week so that you can take continuing education? Are you going to be a full time student?

3. Also factor in your budget.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Find a geothermal education degree program

Study geothermal classes through an accredited learning establishment or program.

I recommend: Pursue your geothermal education at the SMU Geothermal Lab. HeatSpring LLC offers Introduction and Overview, Advanced Commercial Design and Installer Certification classes. Take geothermal courses through the Stanford Geothermal Program from their Department of Energy Resources Engineering. The University of Nevada, Reno also offers classes in geothermal energy.

Find refresher geothermal courses and training possibilities

Continue your geothermal training and knowledge by attending seminars and geothermal classes.

I recommend: Check out the seminars put on by Massmann Geothermal & Mechanical, LLC. Trimline Design Center Inc. offers one day training on geothermal energy.

Supplement your geothermal training with industry news and career information

Consider a foundation of knowledge in the geothermal industry before committing to geothermal education and training.

I recommend: Supplement your geothermal education with meetings and publications from the Geothermal Resources Council. You can also find insightful industry information, including industry priorities, from the Geothermal Energy Association. Check out Geothermal-biz.com. It is part of the U.S. Department of Energy's GeoPowering the West (GPW) program. It was designed to dramatically increase the use of geothermal energy in 19 states across the western half of the United States as well as Alaska and Hawaii. There you can find helpful information for geothermal entrepreneurs, companies, Native American tribes, small businesses and homeowners on geothermal direct use and small power generation projects. Consider attending one of their events or subscribe to their newsletter. Find a wealth of geothermal science, technology and industry information at Geotherm Inc.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  When looking at universities with geothermal courses, speak with both their faculty and their students. A school may be ranked as one of the best geothermal training programs, but if their students don't feel that the experience has been rewarding for them, you might reconsider the school.
• •  Look for scholarship opportunities through the college of your choice, as well as through local and statewide programs.

The field of geothermal education is burgeoning as Americans seek alternative and renewable energy sources. If you want to stay on top of the action, then you need to be plugged in to current geothermal education and training news and trends, which often dictate the direction a field will take next.

While college and university programs are great sources for the latest trends in geothermal education, you may also want to consider exploring a few nontraditional sources. As you conduct your search, keep the following in mind:

1. Professional organizations are at the forefront of education and training in most fields, including geothermal energy.

2. Blogs pertaining to geothermal energy keep you current on changes occurring within the field.

3. Topics of online geothermal training courses are a good indicator of current news and trends in the field.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Join professional organizations to gain access to geothermal courses

Professional organizations are frequently the best sources for current news and trends in a particular field, and the field of geothermal energy is no exception. By joining professional associations, you'll have access to professional journals and geothermal classes, which will keep you current on geothermal education and training.

I recommend: Join the Geothermal Resource Council and get access to special reports and articles highlighting the latest trends in geothermal energy. The Geothermal Energy Association is another excellent resource for journals and classes that offer insights into fluctuations within the field.

Identify current trends in geothermal training by perusing geothermal blogs

Blogs keep you connected to a variety of players in the field of geothermal energy. By perusing posts on a regular basis, you'll be current on a wide variety of topics in the field.

I recommend: Shine Energy Systems Geothermal Blog offers content pertaining to various areas of geothermal energy. If you search the "news" category on the blog, you'll gain access to various different posts highlighting current news in geothermal energy. Get in on the discussions at the Geothermal Energy Blog on Facebook. You're sure to glean some information about current trends in geothermal energy through journals, press releases, technology reports, and state-by-state reports.

Look for geothermal online training opportunities and/or geothermal seminar topics

You can isolate current news and trends in the field of geothermal energy by perusing the latest online geothermal education opportunities.

I recommend: Energy Center University offers a geothermal technologies class that is conducted by a geothermal designer. The Geothermal Education Office has various slide shows that talk about the basics of geothermal energy. As trends in the field shift, look for new slide shows explaining these trends.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Interview university professors who focus on geothermal energy education. They're likely to be at the forefront of up-and-coming geothermal energy trends.

Around-the-clock energy that uses little or no outside fuel to keep running may sound like a fantasy, unless you consider geothermal energy. Below-ground heat acting on reservoirs produces enough steam to run generators or heat buildings directly. You can even apply the concept of using the ground to regulate temperature to control a building’s temperature year-round. If you’re looking for more geothermal education and training, get to know key terms covering three areas: geothermal electric generation, direct-use geothermal heating; and geothermal heat pumps.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Dry steam

Magma closer to the earth's surface can heat water ho high it produces dry steam, with no condensed water at all. The first geothermal plants were dry steam plants, drilling into 'vapor-dominated' reservoir systems where dry steam controls the pressure.

I recommend: University of California–Davis’ California Geothermal Energy Collaborative explains dry steam plants, first utilized in 1962 in The Geysers geothermal field in northern California.

Flash steam

The most common of the three types of geothermal electric plants, flash steam plants, drill deeper wells to draw high-pressure hot water into tanks; the suddenly lowered pressure lets the water expand into 'flashed' steam that drives turbines.

I recommend: The Idaho National Laboratory describes flash steam generation, with an accompanying diagram.

Binary-cycle

Sometimes the water isn't at boiling point, but still too hot to handle. So, a binary-cycle plant employs a two-stage system where the water runs through a heat exchanger to pass the heat energy to a liquid that has a lower boiling point. This secondary fluid 'flashes' into vapor to drive the turbines.

I recommend: Bassfeld Technology Transfer hosts a video produced by CNN about a binary-cycle plant in Utah.

Direct use

At even lower temperatures, geothermally heated water can be used directly to regulate the temperature of a building or in the case of 'district heating' a series of buildings fed from a central field. The applications venture beyond just warming a room: industrial cleaning, aquaculture and greenhouses all use direct use geothermal energy.

I recommend: The State of Utah hosts a number of PowerPoint presentations showcasing direct use geothermal heat in a variety of applications.

Heat pump

You don't have to use a geothermal field to take advantage of 'earth heat.' Ground temperature below the frost line remains relatively constant. Employ a heat pump to transfer heat between a building and the ground, either to cool the space by dissipating it into the earth, or to heat the space by extracting heat from the ground.

I recommend: The SMU Geothermal Lab links to a Heat Pump page with several sources and links for more education on heat pumps.

Enhanced or engineered geothermal systems

Rather than looking for naturally-occurring geothermal fields, where water reservoirs already exist, energy producers now engineer the geothermal system by selecting sites of heated rock formations to inject water, so the rock heats the engineered reservoir to produce steam.

I recommend: Stanford University’s Department of Energy Resources Engineering has a video that gives a good overview of geothermal energy, including describing enhanced geothermal systems.