What is a conversion factor?

A conversion factor is an expression for the relationship between units that is used to change the units of a measured quantity without changing the value. A conversion ratio (or unit factor) always equals one (1), where the numerator and the denominator have the same value expressed in different units.

r=rho l/a where a is the area, l is the length and rho is resistivity so the greater the area the lesser the resistance thats why the earth pin is thicker bcos current follow the shortest path, so less resistive .

-first use of geothermal energy occurred more than 10,000 years ago in north america by american paleo-indians

-the first industrial use of geothermal energy began near pisa, italy in late 18th century

-in 1904, italian scientist piero ginori conti invented the first geothermal electric power plant in which steam was used to generate the power

-with the above experiment, the first geothermal plant in usa started in 1922 with a capacity of 250 kilowatts

-however, in 1946 first ground-source geothermal heat pump installed at commonwealth building in portland, oregon

-during the 1960’s, pacific gas and electric began operation of first large scale geothermal power plant in san francisco, producing 11 megawatts

-in 1973, when oil crisis began many countries began looking for renewable energy sources and by 1980’s geothermal heat pumps (ghp) started gaining popularity in order to reduce heating and cooling costs

-as effect of climate change started showing results, governments of various countries joined hands to fight against it, for which kyoto protocol was signed in japan in 1997, laid out emission targets for rich countries and required that they transfer funds and technology to developing countries, 184 countries have ratified it

hope this