+1 vote
in Class 11 by kratos

Geothermal underground hot water or steam can be used to generate electric power. Does that violate the second law?

1 Answer

+6 votes
by kratos
 
Best answer

No. Since the earth is not uniform we consider the hot water or steam supply as coming from one energy source (the high T) and we must ** heat to a low temperature reservoir as the ocean, a lake or the atmosphere which is another energy reservoir.

Iceland uses a significant amount of steam to heat buildings and to generate electricity.

...