Solar and geothermal energy

Abstract

Publisher Summary This chapter provides an overview on solar and geothermal energy. It also provides various source of information, such as journals and conference proceedings, regarding the development of solar and geothermal energy in various countries. During the early 1940s, a resurgence of interest in the utilization of solar energy took place. The first major symposium on wind and solar energy was held in New Delhi in 1954 by UNESCO, and the need to establish closer links among the various countries led to the formation of the Association for Applied Solar Energy, now the International Solar Energy Society (ISES). The New Delhi symposium was followed by two major conferences in the United States (1955) and by that time a wide range of solar equipment had been developed, including radiation-measuring instruments, water and air heaters, cookers, models of various kinds of solar houses, high-temperature furnaces, water stills, photovoltaic converters, and several different types of engine. Moreover, geothermal energy is frequently classified as a renewable energy form, although, technically, it should be considered as an alternative energy source. Most natural geothermal activity occurs in areas where tectonic plates, which comprise the Earth's crust, meet and the magma approaches the surface through fissures as volcanic activity or hot springs.