Feature: Geothermie Unterhaching
Unterhaching is a town of around 25,000 people a few kilometers south of Munich, Germany. In most respects it is typical of small towns in Europe, except for one thing, it has built and now operates its own power generating station using hot water from deep within the Earth’s crust. The idea first arose in the 1990’s and over the following decade the town secured the venture capital and the engineering resources to drill down three-and-a half kilometers to tap into a permeable limestone layer containing hot water. The drilling was successful and a pump house was built – in effect, a mini power station – where the thermal water is used to generate 3.4 megawatts of electricity a year. This electricity is put into Germany’s national grid and Unterhaching is paid for it providing an annual source of revenue for the townspeople. The project also generates district heating for a growing number of the town’s residents. The Geothermie Unterhaching project provides a perpetual sources of energy that is virtually free of greenhouse gas emissions – entirely owned and operated by the town.
Discussion - September 2009
Should local communities be encouraged to develop their own sustainable solutions, such as geothermal energy, to power generation?
29 Comments from our contributors
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President
The Clearlight Foundation
said: On 27/08/2009
From our home on the earth’s cool crust, it’s hard to believe that 99.9% of the earth’s volume is hot enough to boil water. Atomic decay deep inside of the earth heats it’s molten core to a temperature that is hotter than the surface of the sun!1 To harness this geothermal power, we need only drill through the crust and use that heat to boil water to drive turbine generators.
Geothermal power is a practical reality today. It supplies 26% of electrical power in Iceland and the Philippines and 5% of California’s at prices that are competitive with coal. Geothermal power plants require no fuel and produce no pollution, yet they produce steady base load power 24 hours a day. The world’s first geothermal power plant, built in Larderello Italy in 1911, is still producing enough power for a million homes today. Geothermal power generation is a profitable business. Ormat Technology, for example, has been steadily profitable for decades selling geothermal power worldwide at prices competitive with coal power. Their current market capitalization is over two billion US dollars. Since they have no fuel costs, many of their power sales contracts are for a fixed price per kWh.
Geothermal generation today is done mostly in natural geyser or hot spring areas where nature has placed underground water in contact with hot rocks below and steam flows to the surface. The Geysers area in California for example, was first developed in 1921. In 1960 it was upgraded to an 11 MW commercial power plant. In 1998 the natural water sources began to dry up so recycled water injection began. Currently the plant is being expanded to 80 MW, enough to power the nearby city of San Francisco. The power from the Geysers plant is currently sold for only $03-.035 per kWh. In Mexico the 30 year-old Cerro Prieto field is being expanded from 620 to 720 MW. The power sells for $.03/kWh.
Water re-injection in most modern geothermal plants keeps the water usage very low but many plants today are adding water injection from external sources to greatly expand their power capacity. The technology for doing this has been highly developed by the oil industry. Since the 1950’s, oil wells have been rehabilitated by drilling another hole nearby and injecting water to push out the oil. The mixture of oil and water that comes out is very hot. This hot water is now considered a nuisance but if the heat was used to generate power, tens of thousands of megawatts could be generated in Texas alone with a cost payoff in only three years. It is estimated that the geothermal energy produced could exceed the power in the oil already extracted!
The key to geothermal power generation on a massive scale is developing this water injection technology so that geothermal plants can be routinely built without depending on accidents of nature to produce steam. Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS)2 can be built wherever there are hot rocks covered by an insulating sedimentary layer. Water injection is designed in from the start. Since water is reinjected in a closed loop, the water consumption of an EGS system is much less than for a coal or nuclear plant.
Another exciting development involves power generation from low temperature geothermal resources. In a binary system, a low boiling point liquid is boiled via a heat exchanger. UTCPower built a practical power plant using a 74C hot spring in Alaska. The truck transportable generator3 they used is significantly cheaper than most ORC generators because it is based on a highvolume air conditioning chiller modified to efficiently run backwards as a generator. Power can be generated anywhere hot water and cooling water (or air) are available. Industrial waste heat can be inexpensively turned into power as can excess heat from district heating systems during warm weather.
Combined Heat and Power (CHP) systems give amazingly high overall efficiencies by using the hot water first for power generation and then passing it to successively lower temperature applications like drying, greenhouse heating, fish farming, bathing, etc. Nothing is wasted. Another new development, the Kalina cycle, can improve the efficiency of low temperature power generation by as much as 30%.
Drilling and exploration costs make geothermal power plants expensive to build. However, cost/watt construction costs are a very poor measure of true cost: Coal plants, for example, must be fed an endless stream of trainloads of coal. Energy inflation guarantees an everincreasing fuel cost. Coal prices have increased 140% since January 2007. Coal also has incalculable hidden costs4 from severe storms, acid rain, contamination of fisheries and increased healthcare costs. In spite of massive subsidies, the real cost of coal power is clearly more than geothermal.
Wind power is also clean and cheap, but like solar power, it is as unpredictable as the weather. Rain, sunshine and wind vary widely throughout the day and can sometimes drop to a tiny fraction of their long-term average for months at a time. Hydropower is greatly reduced after a dry year. Base-load power is needed to provide a predictable supply that can be supplemented by wind and solar when available. Maintenance shutdowns reduce average availability (capacity factor) to 71% for coal and 90% for geothermal.
Wind and sunshine vary on a daily cycle. The capacity factor of wind power averages only 30% and solar averages 18%. In a “normal” year, one megawatt of geothermal capacity will thus generate as many kilowatt-hours as 6 megawatts of solar power in New York or 5 in California. Wind power averages 30% capacity factor so it takes about 3 MW of wind power to generate as many kilowatt-hours as 1 MW of geothermal. On bad weather years the differences are even greater. Cost/watt figures must be used with care in comparing renewable technologies. If you want to keep a 100-watt lamp continually lit with solar power you’ll need a 500-watt solar panel and a storage battery. On rainy days you’ll need a flashlight. The constancy of geothermal power makes it the only renewable energy capable of replacing coal and nuclear for base-load power.
In this age of rising fuel costs it is time to rethink the basic idea of building power plants that require fuel. The exploration and drilling costs of a geothermal plant are insignificant compared to the future skyrocketing fuel and pollution control costs of a fueled plant.
New 10X faster deep drilling technologies under development will enable geothermal energy to be used on a scale never before imagined. The risk and time scale of such research is much less than current “clean coal”5 and nuclear power6 projects. The future belongs to the countries that are first to master the use of this free energy that is our gift from the earth.
Australia has vast coal resources, yet the new government has committed to an aggressive effort to develop EGS geothermal power plants. Drilling was just completed on the first wells of a 500 MW EGS power plant7 in the desert. There are 33 companies with 277 exploration licenses working on projects all over the country. Germany has provided free connection to the grid for remote geothermal projects. This has triggered a gold-rush boom in geothermal projects with over 100 exploration licenses granted so far. In Indonesia, Medco just signed a $600 million contract to build a 340 MW geothermal plant which will sell power for only $0468 /kWh
China today has a golden opportunity to take the leadership position in geothermal technology development. The new age of free energy from the earth will someday put the problems of the age of fuel behind us. Geothermal power is quickly coming of age and China could be it’s biggest beneficiary.5
1 Inside the earth 6,000 degrees C
http://www.physorg.com/news62952904.Html
2 MIT report on EGS
http://www.renewableenergyaccess.com/rea/news/story?id=47192
3 http://www.yourownpower.com/Power/grc%20paper.pdf
4 The hidden cost of coal: 2.4% of GDP! p21
http://assets.panda.org/downloads/coming_clean.pdf
5 Every ton of coal burned creates 3.7 tons of CO2 as 2 oxygen atoms from the air join with each carbon atom. Geosequestration will make clean coal very expensive.
http://ran.org/campaigns/global_finance/resources/the_dirty_truth_about_clean_coal/
6 Geothermal heat is nature’s safe atomic power. By leaving the Uranium and Thorium in the rocks safely underground we can just use the heat they produce to boil water. Simple and safe!
7 http://www.geodynamics.com.au/IRM/Company/ShowPage.aspx?CPID=1405
President
John Cantor Heat Pumps
said: On 01/09/2009
The earth’s core holds an almost limitless amount of heat. The crust however acts as an insulator, and the heat available at the surface is almost negligible over most of the planet. However, in several places around the world, the crust is thin or cracked. Some of these sites are stable and can promise an almost endless supply of free heat and power.
USA, Iceland and New Zealand are well known for this technology, which can prove challenging to implement. It is interesting to note that many European countries have some geothermal potential.
The technology is often expensive to put into practice, and requires specific expertise. The long-term benefits can, however, be exceptional.
If the source is hot enough, steam can be produced to power conventional electricity generation equipment. However, there will be many sites where the ground is not hot enough for electricity generation, but the heat could be used directly. In its simplest form, warm water from the ground can be pumped into traditional heating systems.
Other sites will have even less potential, so an important aspect of this technology might be the adoption of well insulated homes with underfloor heating that could utilise water as low as 30 to 35°C. This relatively simple technology requires engineers to deviate comparatively little from ‘normal’ practice.
There is clearly a case for the identification of sites in colder countries where at depths of 100 to 500m the ground is around 20 or 30°C higher than the mean surface temperature. Such sites could be encouraged to develop and might be able to accomplish cost-effective heating systems that are environmentally benign, and secure for generations to come.
Director
Geo-Heat Center
said: On 01/09/2009
Very definitely, local communities should be encouraged to develop their own energy, including geothermal for both direct-use and power generation. Local electrical energy development is referred to as distributed power generation. Distributed power generation is necessary to reduce the load on long distance transmission lines and to help communities becoming more energy independent. Long distance transmission lines are becoming overloaded, building lines and connecting to them can be expensive, and the location of new lines are meeting resistance from land owners due to their environmental impact. With local ownership, the community buys into the projects, supporting development and benefiting in most cases from reduced power costs and from brown/black outs from the larger utilities. Another benefit from distributed power, is energy security, in that the generation of power is spread throughout the country and not concentrated in areas that are vulnerable to terrorists attacks. From a geothermal point of view, local generation lends itself to getting energy on line sooner, as few wells are needed, and the impact on the environment is less. Development of local geothermal direct-use projects, such as district heating, greenhouses, aquaculture and industrial operations provides local employment and revenue to the community. In all, both geothermal direct-use and power generation develops pride in the community and utilizes a local (national) energy resource, independent of fossil fuel imports. However, the state government has to provide incentives to promote the utilization of geothermal resources, both from the exploration and development phase to providing tax breaks and feed-in tariffs, such as is presently being done in Germany. Thus, leadership is needed at the local as well as at the national level to promote and develop the local use of geothermal energy.
Geologist
Geological Survey of Belgium
said: On 01/09/2009
This question triggers quite some reflection. By combining ‘geothermal energy’, ‘power generation’ and (widespread) ‘local use’ in one sentence, one automatically steps away from any traditional use of geothermal heat. This does not mean that the concept strikes me as unrealistic, but maybe as one step too early.
First of all, geothermal energy is clearly an undervalued resource in many parts of the world. Fortunately, the direct use of the warmth of the earth is slowly gaining momentum, and applications such as district heating will hopefully be quite common in one or two decades.
Power production is quite another matter. Classical technology relies on the direct extraction of steam to drive turbines, which is only possible in geologically suited, mostly volcanic areas. The technology to exploit the thermal energy from dry and deep seated reservoirs (typically 3 to 5 km) is called Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS). This technology could virtually be applied everywhere, and its potential is huge. This is especially true for the binary-EGS systems, which use fluids other than water to drive turbines and can thus produce power from rocks with temperatures below 200°C.
Before EGS will be implemented at a large scale, two hurdles need to be taken. Firstly the technology for binary power production must become mature and therefore cost efficient. Secondly, the geotechnical techniques for developing a deep and dry reservoir need to be optimized. The latter is the most challenging, because each location has its specific geological constraints and problems. Even when EGS power plants might look identical at the surface, there would be substantial differences below.
In order to reach widespread commercial power production from geothermal energy, a demonstration phase is required. This will allow evaluating and optimizing turbine technologies, and especially to build the geotechnical expertise necessary for opening up reservoirs in different geological settings. 30 demonstration projects could be necessary in Europe alone in order to leap the geotechnical hurdle. If this step is skipped, one risks that only the easiest, least-risk opportunities are being developed, and that EGS will remain in infancy forever.
Such an effort would be well justified by the huge promises that geothermal power production has to offer. So should local communities be encouraged? Most certainly, but the first priority is a European plan to push the technology to the commercial level. This could be done in 10 to 15 years, after which local communities, with or without green energy support, could rely extensively on medium sized geothermal power units.
Researcher
Instituto de Investigaciones Electricas Gerencia de Geotermia
said: On 01/09/2009
Yes, they should, since currently the development and use of clean renewable energy sources, such as geothermal, are being encouraged worldwide in order to mitigate negative environmental impacts mostly related to conventional power generation. However, regarding the use of geothermal resources, every country has different legislation. Thus, I think that a key factor for promoting the use of geothermal energy not only for power generation but also for many direct applications, is that information and general guidelines (including economic, social and political factors), should be provided to local communities.
Senior Reservoir Engineer
Kinder Morgan CO2 Company Inc.
said: On 01/09/2009
The emergence of new geothermal technologies capable of providing electrical and heating energy to homes within communities opens a broad spectrum of developments. The main question addressing what will bring the new energy into viable commercial use seems to be who will drive this.
Several enterprising companies are beginning to develop and market geothermal technologies capable of providing renewable and economic systems. Home construction and land development groups are investigating possible future locations and home construction designs incorporating these features.
Research groups and Universities such as Southern Methodist University in Dallas are bringing together inventors, developers, scientists, educators, and various other interested parties to discuss and present ideas on future geothermal developments. As with any new developing technology, the bridge between the process/machine and the actual incorporation into daily use takes a catastrophe to finally breach.
No community or for that matter individual will invest into clean renewable energy unless driven by necessity or can be shown a substantial cost savings.
Future available resources for energy are coming to a shift due to depletion factors with obvious cost escalations due to limited supplies.
Where communities can play a major role in the future developments of renewable energies such as geothermal is through incorporating technologies for a mass use with its shared costs and utilizations. Community planning and engineering could play a big role in constructing and facilitating the renewable technology for its consumers that live within the city. Coops and associations can accomplish great strides whereas individuals would find it very difficult to tackle modernization of new energy resources alone.
President
European Geothermal Energy Council
said: On 01/09/2009
Per definition, geothermal energy is the energy stored in form of heat beneath the earth’s surface. It has been used since antique times for heating, and for about 100 years also for electricity generation. On a human timescale, geothermal heat is an inexhaustible source of energy, comparable to that of the sun.
Until now we just used a marginal part of the potential of this underground heat reservoir.
The geothermal energy is an ideal answer to the different energy needs of a local community: electricity, heating and cooling, domestic hot water and thermal energy storage.
In the past, geothermal energy was used for electricity generation in Europe in regions like Tuscany, Iceland and Aegean Turkey, where it is possible to find resources at very high temperature (>150°C). The development of new geothermal power plants with low-temperature turbine circuits meanwhile allows for electricity production also from low and medium temperature resources (between 150°C and 90°C), as has been demonstrated in Germany and Austria.
But the most promising geothermal power technology for the future is EGS: Enhanced Geothermal Systems. After decades of research and development, the first European EGS plant became operational in June 2008 in Soultz-sous-Forêts in Alsace. This concept makes use of the natural fracture systems in the basement rocks, by enlarging its permeability through massive stimulation, installing a multi-well system and pumping water through the resulting “enhanced” fractured reservoir. The water is heated by the surrounding rock and this heat then used for power production. This newly demonstrated system allows virtually all local communities all over Europe to consider geothermal power generation.
The main advantage of all geothermal power plants is to provide base-load energy (available year round and round the clock), that saves money at home (no fuel to be imported from abroad), and can create jobs within the respective region. The high number of full-load hours (in some plants values in excess of 8000 h/year, i.e. >90 % availability, have been reported) renders the high investment for deep geothermal drilling profitable after a reasonable time.
Beside the production of electricity, the supply of heat and cold is a well-proven achievement of geothermal energy. Heat can be obtained from geothermal resources in two distinct ways.
• Heat from ground water of the deeper substratum, the temperature of which varies between 25°C and 150°C according to depth and geothermal gradient, can be exploited for direct heating applications. It can supply energy to a district heating or a combined heat and power installation, can be used in agriculture (greenhouses, drying, fish-breeding, etc.), in industrial processes, in balneology, for snow melting, seawater-desalination, and for much more. Also cold production through absorption chillers is a proven concept.
• The low temperature in the shallow ground (down to a few hundred meters) is increased to a useful temperature by using a heat pump. The range of applications for geothermal heat pumps is widely spanned. This kind of geothermal applications can be present everywhere and every time for heating and cooling: small residential houses, large office complexes, industry (supermarkets, factories), and also (typically in combination with storage of summer heat) for snow melting and de-icing of roads, airports, etc.
Site Manager
Eco20/20
said: On 01/09/2009
I believe that local communities should definitely look at developing their own sustainable solutions, in particular, geothermal energy. If used correctly geothermal power could be utilized for bigger municipal buildings. If used in this way the return on investment would be quicker. It might also be useful for local communities to work on a public-private partnership to help share the costs.
Memeber of the Board of Directors
Nevada Geothermal Power
said: On 01/09/2009
The answer of course is yes!.. Local provision of energy is critical to meeting future energy needs in a cost effective and sustainable manner. I believer that Dr. John Lund, in a recent response to this question, did an excellent job in high lighting the benefits of both power generation from renewables such as geothermal as well as the benefits that can be obtained through direct thermal use of such resources or through combined heating and power (CHP). CHP projects are those that provide both electricity and thermal energy from the same energy recourse and with substantially higher efficiency. CHP is becoming a very important energy alternative throughout Europe and increasingly in North America. Iceland has pioneered geothermal CHP and countries such as Denmark, Finland and Sweden have managed to significantly increase overall fuel use efficiency through the development of CHP systems by local jurisdictions.
However, despite the obvious benefits of local energy project development, there are a number of potential pitfalls as well. First, few local jurisdictions have the experience or expertise to develop technologically advanced energy projects. They are thus either dependent upon consultants or private entrepreneurs wishing to team with local jurisdictions-often in order to take advantage of local jurisdiction bonding authority to finance energy projects or other local jurisdictional advantages such as rights of condemnation.
Unfortunately, many local jurisdictions do not have explicit legislative authority to engage in what would be deemed to be the development and operation of “utility” type services. Without such explicit authority, bond council would not be able to allow for the sale of bonds critical to the financing of such facilities.
Although private entities with whom local jurisdictions might wish to partner are not so restricted, there are also potential legal or intuitional issues facing them. For example, the development of district heating and/or cooling system may subject the developer to utility commission jurisdiction. Such jurisdiction would result in extensive oversight as well as a limitation on the rate of return that may be realized by the developer and the setting of rates by the utility commission. Such burdensome regulation does not favor such private system development given the extremely high upfront capital cost of most such systems, the non monopoly form of the business and the burden of utility commission disclosures and hearing.
Local jurisdictions that wish to benefit from the development of their own sustainable energy solutions can best be advised to thoroughly evaluate the legal, institutional and regulatory framework within which such projects can be developed and operated and when necessary, to work with responsible legislative bodies in order to ensure that the necessary framework is enacted prior to project initiation.
Chair of Geology and Geological Engineering
University of North Dakota
said: On 01/09/2009
If I had been asked if local communities should be encouraged to develop geothermal power more than three years ago, I likely would have offered a tutorial on global tectonics and global heat flow to qualify my firm no. Today I am delighted to say that my answer has changed to yes.
I offer some historical context to put these two answers in perspective. My interest in geothermal energy began in the late 1970s when the US Department of Energy and the U.S. Geological Survey sponsored several programs to assess the geothermal resources of the United States in cooperation with state geological surveys, universities, and industry partners. The resulting assessments, which were summarized in U.S.G.S. Circular 726 (White and Williams, 1975); U.S.G.S. Circular 790 (Muffler, 1976); and U.S.G.S. Circular 892 (Reed, 1983), defined the geothermal resource according to temperature and nature of occurrence in five categories: a. conduction-dominated regimes; b. Igneous-related geothermal systems; c. High-temperature (>150 ºC) and intermediate-temperature (90 ºC- 150 ºC) hydrothermal systems; d. low-temperature (below 90 ºC) geothermal waters; and e. geopressured.
I was fortunate to have a role in assessing the resources within the sedimentary basins in Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota. However, the nature of that resource was low-to-intermediate temperature waters, and there was virtually no interest in development for industrial processes and power generation seemed unachievable.
I felt a degree of disappointment about the lack development because the size of the accessible low-temperature resource base in the central United States was large, i.e., 27 x 103 exajoules (1 exajoule, EJ, ~ 1015 BTU ~ 6.7 x109 gallons fuel oil). The low-to-intermediate resource estimate for thermal energy stored in sedimentary basins throughout the U.S. was estimated to be about 100,000 EJ, which was significantly greater than the resource estimate for the higher profile hydrothermal systems (Sorey, et al., 1983). An important point is that the 1983 estimate was based on only a few water-producing formations and generally excluded petroleum-bearing formations. Interestingly, this was the number used in the MIT report (Tester, 2007) on geothermal resources. Recently, we revisited our initial studies in North Dakota and South Dakota and included all formations that have potential for hot water production. We found that the resource base is almost an order of magnitude greater than we estimated using only a few formations. If the difference between earlier assessments and the current analysis applies to all U.S. sedimentary basins, the accessible resource base may be of the order of 400,000 EJ.
So, how does this change my answer from no to yes? Recent technological advances leading to commercialization of scalable organic Rankine cycle (ORC) engines changes the equation. The ORC process uses hot water to evaporate a working fluid to a gas that drives a turbine generator, and cold water to cool and condense the gas to a fluid that is recycled through the system. In 2006, it was estimated that an ORC engine using fluid volumes of 1000 gallons per minute at temperatures above 92 C could produce electricity at a cost competitive with power produced by coal-fired power plants. The efficiency of ORC systems at that time was about ten percent, and they were only available in the 10s of MW range. Today there are at least five manufacturers making scalable ORC systems in the 100 kW to 1 MW range, and at least one system has an efficiency about 17 percent and is expected to attain an efficiency in the low 20s as it is scaled up to produce power in the MW range.
So where is this resource available? Every year, the US oil and gas industry produces about 2 x 1012 gallons of “waste” water from sedimentary basins at temperatures sufficient for electrical power generation using ORC technology. Estimates of the energy that could be produced from co-produced oil field waste waters from range 1,124 to 5,393 MWe in Oklahoma and 1,094 to 5,252 MWe in Texas (Blackwell, and Richards, 2006). The impact of development of this energy source on U.S. energy future is dramatically emphasized by the fact that the presently installed electrical power capacity for Texas is only 0.1 x 108 MWe. If large-scale development is feasible and economic, energy companies could re-develop abandoned or capped resources, and electrical power generated from geothermal waters could replace most if not all of the electrical power currently generated using fossil fuels. Another significant long-term result would be a major reduction in CO2 emissions and that would offer a partial solution to the problem of anthropogenic climate change.
Finally, I believe that development of geothermal energy in any capacity is a positive step toward a sustainable energy future. The resource is enormous and has the capacity to supply most future demand for electrical power if technology can meet some substantial challenges. Electrical power from geothermal energy has several compelling characteristics: a small footprint, low emissions, continuous availability, and it is sustainable.
Another aspect of the geothermal resource is simply direct use for heating and cooling. Most heating and cooling of buildings is accomplished burning fossil fuels at temperatures above 2000 C to maintain air temperatures in the buildings within a few degrees of 20 C. Whether the end result is accomplished by direct heating of air or water or by conversion of heat to electricity and back, the inefficiency is staggering. Alternatively, the efficiency of geothermal heat pumps (GHP), one of the fastest growing renewable energy applications worldwide, is remarkable. Lund et al., (2004) determined that coupling GHP systems with renewable electricity resources results in an apparent efficiency of 140% with an excess of 40% over the original energy consumed in generating the electricity. GHP applications can be at any scale from individual dwellings to large district systems, and they can be installed just about anywhere on the planet.
Adjunct Research Fellow
Monash University
said: On 01/09/2009
Electrical power provides the energy that sustains modern communities. A sustainable supply of electrical power is therefore critical to the ongoing health and wellbeing of any community. In the developed world the supply of electricity has largely been centralised into nodes of concentrated generation located proximal to primary fossil fuel energy sources, whether they be coal, oil or natural gas.
There is a good reason that fossil fuels underpin most of the world’s large-scale generation of electrical power. Fossil fuels have a very high energy density. So long as local communities remain reliant on centralised sources of electrical power, those centralised generation hubs will remain reliant on high energy density fossil fuels for feedstock. Any move away from centralised and towards distributed generation Local communities should always take an active interest in where their electrical power comes from.
No sustainable energy source has the same energy density as fossil fuels (unless you count nuclear as a sustainable option) so any honest move away from a reliance on fossil fuels will require a move to distributed generation. It follows directly that any honest move away from fossil fuels will require local communities to play a greater role in providing their own local power solutions.
Geothermal energy is a ubiquitous option in that the top few kilometres of the earth provide a source of heat at every location. Geothermal energy provides a ‘base load’ source of power, in that it is available 24 hours and day, 365 days per year, regardless of the whims of the weather. If communities are to power their refrigerators and traffic lights around the clock, then base load power is required. Geothermal energy is one of only a very few sustainable energy choices that is able to provide base load capacity.
The rate at which temperature increases with depth, and the rate at which the geothermal energy can be extracted and put to local use for direct supply of heat or electricity, are site-specific. Likewise, the cost of exploiting geothermal energy is site specific, but all local communities should be encouraged to assess the potential of geothermal energy as a local option for power generation.
Associate Expert
United Nations Industrial Development Organization
said: On 01/09/2009
Energy, together with education, is one of the necessary conditions for the development of productive activities. Access to affordable and reliable energy is essential for wealth creation and, ultimately, for achieving the Millennium Development Goals.
In developing countries, local communities in isolated rural areas are seldom reached by electricity; the most common reason is the cost of extending the grid is too high, compared to the potential consumption. Under these conditions, the development of decentralized power generation, based on locally available renewable energy resources, is the best option from every point of view: social, economical and environmental.
Not all of the renewable energy resources are available in every place: it is most likely true that sun will shine enough to produce electricity from photovoltaic solar panels anywhere. It is not the case with wind, hydroelectric, biomass and geothermal.
Among energy resources, geothermal is the only one (together with nuclear) that is not representing a form of solar energy storage: even fossil fuels are ultimately solar energy stored in biomass and processed by earth’s heat and pressure; in the case of fossil fuels, they are not considered renewables mostly because of the long time needed for their creation from biomass.
Its geological origin is one of the reasons why geothermal energy is available only in very specific and confined places on our planet; for the same reason, not so many local communities have the opportunity to be sitting on geothermal reservoirs with the necessary characteristics to be suitable for power generation. Nevertheless, in the areas where the resource is available, it is one of the most worth to take advantage of.
Unlike other renewables, geothermal cannot be exploited for power generation in too small a scale; the main reason is that, to unleash the resource, fixed exploration and drilling costs must be borne. Once these costs have been covered and the reservoir have been identified and drilled, the operating cost of power generation from geothermal is the lowest among renewables and lower than most fossil fuels based power plants. This is especially true if power is produced in combination with heat (CHP).
In order to be able to exploit their geothermal resources for electricity production, local communities need to fulfill a series of non obvious conditions; in addition to the fact of being sitting on a potentially suited reservoir, they need access to finance and risk mitigation mechanisms for exploration and development of the reservoir; access to funding and technical expertise for power plant construction and operation; enough electricity (and, possibly, heat) demand, that can be sold at a tariff that makes the investment attractive for private capital to fund it; and, ultimately, an enabling regulatory framework for decentralized power generation, with specific mechanisms to address barriers that are peculiar for geothermal energy development.
Is this set of barriers making geothermal energy not suited for local communities? Of course, it depends.
It depends on the size of the community (enough demand), the value addition of the productive activities to be powered (ability to pay a sustainable tariff), the cost of development of the reservoir (depth, corrosion and drilling issues, etc), the ability to access finance and to attract private sector investments, the cost of alternative electricity production (e.g.: the presence of cheap hydroelectric power sometimes prevented the development of geothermal, likewise long periods of cheap fossil fuels).
Once a community has the inherent necessary conditions to develop geothermal energy, different instruments and mechanisms exist to overcome economic and institutional barriers. Most of these mechanisms have been established in the context of international cooperation. One of the examples is the Risk Mitigation Fund of the World Bank, aimed at providing financial instruments to assist in mitigating the exploration and appraisal risks. It helps to improve access to finance for public and private developers, resulting in reduced risk and cost for early stage geothermal development. International organizations can be involved in the development of single geothermal projects in developing countries, supporting part of the initial costs through various donors and facilities (e.g., the Global Environmental Facility) and providing guarantees for accessing financial resources.
Are these mechanisms enough for making geothermal the most suited energy resource for power generation and local communities development? Maybe, but only in very few and peculiar cases.
Generally, much less barriers exist for the exploitation of direct geothermal heat and for low temperature applications, especially from shallow resources: the most common geothermal heat use is tourism, through the establishment of SPA and thermal baths. Another common application is greenhouses heating. Large untapped potential is existing for industrial process heat applications, like food, textile, leather and biomass processing: pasteurization, drying, packaging, sterilization, etc. Where space heating is needed, geothermal is extremely reliable and affordable in providing it. Where cooling – especially for food preservation – is requested, absorption and adsorption technologies can provide it, even using low enthalpy geothermal resources. All these applications can be a cheaper and easier way to exploit geothermal resources for local community development. At the same time, the most promising geothermal reservoirs for power generation must be identified, developed and sustainably exploited, based on a national and regional strategic approach.
Yes, local communities must develop their own renewable energy resources, not just for environmental reasons but also to decouple their development from fossil fuels price volatility. Which resources? It depends on local conditions: the cheapest and easiest of those locally available is usually the best, provided that can be properly operated and maintained.
Geothermal for power generation is one of the cheapest and most reliable renewable energy resources. However, power generation from geothermal requires high initial costs and has limited potential for small, rural communities, especially compared with the extreme scalability of other renewables like hydro, photovoltaic, biomass and wind. Geothermal reservoirs are geographically located in very specific sites, in the same way as oil and gas ones. The countries that possess them are gifted and should use them responsibly, for their own long term sustainable development.
The beauty of renewable energy resources is that every single community is rich in at least one of them. The challenge that local communities have to face today is to use them for enabling wealth creation for their own people.
Disclaimer: the opinions here presented reflect the author’s personal view and not necessarily correspond to UNIDO’s ones and are not endorsed by UNIDO or any other organization.
Relationship Manager
Islandsbanki
said: On 03/09/2009
The short answer to the question is definitely yes. Local communities should be encouraged to develop their own sustainable energy solutions. Conditions to utilize sustainable energy resources can vary greatly between communities. Local authorities are therefore in most cases better suited to promote and support new sustainable energy projects/techniques than the Central Government.
The role of the Government should be to provide the necessary legal framework and to ensure funding, i.e. the Stimulus Package in the US that is designed to make federal incentives for renewable power technologies more useful than before.
Iceland and in particular Reykjavik is a great example of how local authorities improved living conditions in the city by promoting the use of geothermal district heating, requiring all local household to become connected to the system. The annual average heat in Reykjavik is 5 degrees C. The city today holds a total of 120.000 inhabitants and every single house is heated by geothermal energy. The shift from fossil fuels to geothermal energy district heating took place in 1940-1990 and the initial decision was based on economical rather than environmental reasons. Icelanders at that time could not afford to spend limited foreign currency on oil for house heating. The Reykjavik municipality founded a District Heating Company that provided the necessary infrastructure and the use of fossil fuels was banned as new areas within the city where developed. The decision to stop the usage of fossil fuels for space heating was highly controversial at that point in time but as district heating systems are very capital intensive the only way to achieve efficiency was to have every single house connected.
Apart from reducing pollution in Reykjavik the usage of geothermal energy has improved living standards tremendously in the city and worries about the sustainability of the heat source have not materialized. The initial big investment in the system, highly controversial at the time, has proven to be very cost effective as annual operation cost of the system is relatively low resulting in substantially lower house heating costs in Reykjavik compared to usage of fossil fuels.
I strongly believe that local communities can play a leading role for the development of sustainable energy solutions, as is the case in Reykjavik but the same method of implementation would not be applied anywhere today.
To increase the usage of sustainable energy substantially we need to reform current energy infrastructure to some degree. No major steps will therefore be taken without a political consensus at Government and community level. The Central Government needs to have in place the appropriate incentives (Special Loan Programs, Feed in Tariffs, Production Tax Credits etc.) to assist with the funding of sustainable energy projects utilizing Geothermal Energy or other sustainable energy resources.
E.N.G.I.N.E. Participant
GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences
said: On 03/09/2009
In its World Energy Outlook of 2008, the International Energy Agency states that “Current global trends in energy supply and consumption are patently unsustainable – environmentally, economically and socially “,that “… the future of human prosperity depends on how successfully we tackle the two central energy challenges facing us today: ensuring reliable and affordable energy; and effecting a rapid transformation to a low-carbon … energy supply”. It consequently calls for decisive and consistent action, “… nothing short of an energy revolution”
Today, we already see the beginnings of this energy revolution in many places, and encouraging local communities to develop their own sustainable solutions like geothermal energy, also for the purpose of electrical power generation, can and should be a significant part of this third industrial revolution we need.
Since many years already, geothermal energy is being utilized for heating, cooling and electrical power generation in countries with active volcanoes like for example Iceland, New Zealand or the Philippines. Against the background of easing conventional hydrocarbon reserves, rising energy prices and the urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, scientists, engineers and technicians in many places around the globe have increased or up-taken activities to develop and improve technologies aiming at exploiting deep geothermal energy in countries and areas with less favourable conditions with regards to subsurface temperatures.
Due to the efficiency factor associated to the process of converting geothermal heat into electrical power, research and development activities are still necessary, in order to make an application of geothermal energy, purely for the purpose of electrical power generation economically viable, in these areas of less favourable thermal regimes. On the other hand, a cascaded exploitation, in which such a geothermal power generation is being combined with a communal or industrial heating application, can be commercial today already, provided the heat markets served are large enough.
This is the reason why local communities are the natural partner or operator for new geothermal projects, behind which they are these days, not surprisingly, often found to be the driving forces. The benefits for local communities are obvious: they gain the capability to tap a domestic energy resource, a resource which is available 24/7, which is renewable, environmentally friendly and can be utilized with hardly any carbon dioxide emission. It offers the possibility to municipal administrations to make themselves independent of fluctuating and rising hydrocarbon prices, and to secure an important advantage of site by offering the potential to attract new industries which have a large demand for low temperature heat.
Now at this point you may ask: Why should there actually be a need to encourage local communities, since the advantage of their commitment for geothermal energy is so blatant?
Well, apart from their obvious upsides, deep geothermal projects are also characterised by high upfront investments for necessary exploration and drilling activities. These investments additionally are at risk, since it is only after wells have been drilled, which means after considerable investments have been taken, that it can be judged whether sufficient amounts of hot water have been found to make the project an economic success. In the case of heating applications, further upfront investments may be required, for the construction of a district heating grid.
These high upfront investments, and the fact that a substantial amount of this investment is at risk, are stumbling blocks which can deter local communities from putting their geothermal energy projects into action.
So yes, local communities should definitely be encouraged to develop their own sustainable solutions, like geothermal energy, to power generation. And they should be so by means of implementing appropriate market incentive programmes, for which examples can be found in various European countries.
Co-founder, Foreign Editor
SolveClimate.com
said: On 08/09/2009
The answer is a resounding yes.
Of course, stopping dirty coal is priority #1 when it comes to solving the global climate and energy challenge. But a portfolio of solutions exists at every level of government and at every level of society. All should (and can) be deployed together to hasten our use of clean power, our economic recovery and our international security.
Geothermal energy could play a vital role.
Naturally, utility-scale deployment of hot rocks would deliver the greatest greenhouse gas savings and economic benefits. The resource potential is unquestionably massive, and totally undeveloped.
Estimates claim it could be as much as 2,000 GW worldwide. For context, geothermal plants churn out just 10 GW of global electricity today.
But support for massive power plants need not come at the expense of local efforts, where geothermal is becoming a useful efficiency resource.
In the U.S., geothermal systems are beginning to be embraced at a broad level. The Geothermal Energy Association estimates there are 1.5 million households using geothermal heat pumps nationwide. The energy benefits of these systems has been staggering. Electricity savings of 50 percent are frequently recorded, with some individuals claiming savings of 70 percent or more. It is believed that for every 100,000 homes with geothermal systems, around 2 million barrels of foreign oil is saved each year.
Some of the most promising inroads in this area are taking place in big urban centers as part of the green building boom. In the city of Chicago, for example, the AFL-CIO labor union has linked up with a local geothermal firm to install “smart” geothermal building systems for heating and cooling in commercial, public and residential buildings. These projects are creating local jobs in neighborhoods most in need of them. They’re also saving tons of energy — between 50 percent and 80 percent of heating, cooling, and ventilation costs.
All those watts saved are the key reason why such local programs must be encouraged. The single most powerful thing that any locality or individual can do to create a sustainable future for them and the planet is to invest in energy efficiency — be it through geothermal systems or efficient lighting or smart appliances.
Director de Operaciones
Petratherm España
said: On 08/09/2009
Yes indeed, geothermal energy is an emerging technology in Europe and local communities are playing already a very important role on the development of the geothermal industry. Projects like combined heat and power at Unterhatching in Germany, or several of the geothermal district heating grids in Paris were promoted totally or in part by the local communities.
We feel a little jealous when visiting some geothermal projects in other parts of Europe where local communities play a leading role, from the major to the little student, all them understand the benefits of the geothermal energy are producing on their lives supporting the development of this technology. I believe this is our challenge for Spain where the “communal spirit” is not as strong as in other areas to the north of Europe.
Petratherm is a first mover geothermal developer in Spain and we can’t understand our business model without the contribution of the local communities that are the final users of the energy. Petratherm is promoting at the moment the development of the first geothermal district heating grid experience in Spain, specifically to the north of Madrid City and recently has entered into a cooperative agreement with the Spanish Federal and Madrid Regional Governments to progress the Company’s 8 MW Madrid Geothermal District Heating (GDH) project.
The Cooperative Agreement provides a mechanism to quickly resolve the outstanding matters like energy demand and long term customers contracts, that only could be sorted by making understand the benefits that geothermal energy will produce to the local community providing with a clean, indigenous and sustainable energy source in opposition to the current external fossil fuel energy sources they are currently using.
Petratherm’s Madrid GDH project has been highlighted as one of six renewable energy projects of interest within the Madrid Regional Government’s Renewable Energy Cluster, which is seeking to advance renewable energy projects in the Madrid region.
Summarizing there will be no geothermal development without the implication of the local communities. And the industry, the scientific community and the governments need to involve the local and global communities, being able to show them the benefits that the geothermal energy produces on comfort, less dependence from external energy sources, gas emission reduction…. And make the communities the driving force of the geothermal energy development.
Senior Geologist
Hydrogeologist Consultant
said: On 09/09/2009
District power generation dedicated to local Communities is definitely possible and should be encouraged wherever medium and/or high temperature heat reservoirs are available.
ITALY has a well known and famous history (since the beginning of 1900 Century), especially in Tuscany Region, where 25% of power is produced by means of geothermal sources, mostly coming from LARDERELLO area. Larderello is famous for its geothermal productivity; it became one of the first places in the world where geothermal energy was exploited to support industry. Currently Larderello produces near 10% of the world’s entire supply of geothermal electricity, amounting to 4,800 GWh per year and powers about a million Italian households. Its geology makes it uniquely conducive to geothermal power. Therefore in these “special” areas that are spread rarely around the world, geothermal potential is massive and should be utilised to its maximum.
However, even district heating and cooling systems can be fed by ground low temperature sources, and the town of MILANO has already started, demonstrating to be a leading town in developing such solutions, since the beginning of 2006. Ultimately local areas do not need special geological formations to reduce carbon emissions and can help promote a sustainable development through this type of geothermal energy.
Professor
National Defense University/ Georgetown
said: On 09/09/2009
This is really at least a two part question. The first part is about whether local communities should be encouraged to develop their own sustainable solutions. This will be determined by many factors about and surrounding the local communities. If we are talking about places where insurgents, criminals and others are regularly attacking the electric grid or petrol supply chains or in places where there is almost no grid then the answer is an obvious yes. Distributed energy and local and community energy sourcing is best when there are serious and ongoing risks to energy security being supplied by the electricity grids, refinery supply chains and the like. They can also work best where there is little energy access to a community. However, when there are cheaper alternatives in a low risk environment, such as in Germany, for example, then the idea of local and community energy programs might sound like good politics and politically correct, but economically it makes little sense. It will generally be more costly to have community-based energy systems than to have large grid and other economies of scales based energy supply chains.
If new inventions come along the way that make solar, wind, and other forms of energy cheaper at a community level than the community being hooked up to the grid then things will change. I must admit there is an attraction to being able to unlock from the centralized energy sources like grids, and going it alone in a “John Wayne” manner. (Is this not the American way?). However, I wonder how many people are willing to pay the extra costs to have this local energy “independence”?
There is also something nice about having your own electricity produced on your own roof or by a windmill in your own backyard. Decentralized energy systems are the most democratic way of doing things.
In the event of storms or other disruptions of the electrical grid it may also be nice to have a backup system, or even more than just a backup system. But the need for, and economic viability of, having such a system will be determined in large part by the risks that the community is facing. (For example, compare the risks facing a community in the DRC with one in the nicer parts of France and Italy.)
However, there is a looming electricity crisis in the UK, based in large part to the lack of investment in new generation capacity in the country, that may prompt more local and community backup systems. If the UK government smartens up and gets moving on new generating capacity then this potential storm may pass. If it does not this may be a signaling event for the citizens of Europe and many other places to start rethinking the logic of distributed and local power options.
The second part of this question has to do with the choice of distributed energy systems. Geothermal makes sense in areas where the hot rocks are economically exploitable. There are areas of the world where there is a lot of volcanic activity, hot springs, and relatively closer proximity to these hot rocks than other parts of the world. In those geothermal dense parts of the world this would make sense. For example, there are parts of western Saudi Arabia where this would make sense, but in other parts of Saudi Arabia it would not make sense. For solar energy a community would need to be best in a place where solar radiation is powerful. Egypt, Qatar, the UAE, Libya, Algeria, and Jordan would be excellent places for this. Iceland would not be, although it is a great place for geothermal. Wind power is best where you have steady winds at around 15-25 knots. Places where the winds are unreliable, too low on average, or too high on average (let’s say in the Aleutian chain of islands in Alaska), it would make less sense. Solar updraft towers work off of the differences in temperature between the base and the top of the towers, like the solar tower of Environmission in Australia. They may work best in high solar radiation areas, and places where temperature changes most as we head up in altitudes. Tidal power makes better sense where there are multiple strong tides each day. Wave power requires lots of wave activity. Calm seas won’t help that community. Those big waves off Hawaii or in the English Channel could produce serious megawatts. Ocean energy can work where there are large temperature changes and deep drop offs near the generating facility, like in Hawaii.
There are thousands of technologies out there to be used by local and other communities, but the communities need to be careful to choose the technologies and supply chains that fit best into their natural and other environments. They should also be careful to weigh the options of the already existing electricity grid and other energy supply chains, along with the risks to these supply chains and to the community’s energy security. Otherwise, the good idea of local energy “independence” will end up being local economic bankruptcy.
Director Business Development
IF Technology
said: On 10/09/2009
YES! Local communities should definitely be stimulated to develop their own renewable energy supply. For several reasons: Energy production needs the support from the community where the production takes place. So local production for local consumption. Many renewable energy sources are spatially distributed: wind, solar, geothermal are by nature distributed sources, and as such, they require support from many local communities. Also, a network of local production is less vulnerable to disturbances than centralized production.
Director and Principal Hydrogeologist
ESI Italia srl
said: On 10/09/2009
In Italy, competent professional bodies like Consiglio Nazionale dei Geologi, the Italian Register of Geologists, are set by law and works under the Ministry of Justice umbrella. After an exam, registering by CNG automatically gives credit as a Professional Geologist. In force of the law CNG can prepare regulations dedicated to registered geologists like code of ethics, code of practice etc. Among others, one of the most relevant duties of CNG is to promote Geology as a cultural tool helpful in respect of the public needs and of environmental protection.
Therefore CNG is also strongly committed in promoting resources proper uses, namely renewable sources and CO2 sequestration sustainable application.
CNG is fulfilling these appointments by
• setting a Continuous Professional Development system dedicated to all 15.000 Registered
Italian Geologists, based on a credit system to be collated each year
• organising national and local conferences, courses and training on Geothermal Resources
and on CO2 Sequestration
• promoting relationships with Academic and Research bodies at any level
• participating to a number of working group in Italy and abroad
• giving information to national and local media
• running a permanent Committee on Geothermal Development together with UGI (Unione
Geotermica Italiana)
• editing a peer reviewed magazine.
As mentioned CNG has a strong commitment in promoting Geothermal Energy sustainable exploitation, helping Registered Geologists to behave properly in supporting designer, engineers, drillers, and running geological, hydrogeological, environmental and geothermal studies and plans at any level themselves. Geological, hydrogeological, hydrogeochemical Conceptual Models are recognised as the first correct approach to draw a sound Geothermal Conceptual Model at any site and CO2 sequestration schemes.
Accrediting drillers and/or installers should rely on contributions provided by Geologists with long track record and experience in Earth Sciences and a robust understanding of technical issues, based on the right competence and practice.
Therefore Geologists are to considered among ‘Competent Persons’ to deal with and be legally
liable for:
• geothermal resources and ground source temperature of different regions definition
• soil and rock identification for thermal conductivity identification
• contributing to CO2 sequestration scheme designing
• technical advising on regulations on using geothermal resources
• feasibility of using GCHP and GSHP running (at least dealing with expected temperature changes impacts and groundwater abstraction rates estimation).
Designers and geologists are used to be appointed all over Europe to run feasibility studies even at very early stage because they are recognised as competent persons in providing a really independent judgement on technical and economical long term sustainability of projects using geothermal resources.
1. Geothermal Energy
Even recently CNG has contributed to observations made on Discussion Document on Geothermal Regulation Framework, namely dealing with
• technical definitions
• Italian legal framework at work and licensing bodies
• independent experts and competent professional bodies.
On behalf of technical definitions CNG proposed to harmonise the criteria to be applied within the Discussion Document on Geothermal Regulation Framework with the proposals made within the RES Directive e.g. the definition of shallow GSH (Ground Source Heat systems) which is based on depth (less than 400 m) and temperature criteria (less than 25°C).
Our proposal is aimed to step definitions onto:
• technical criteria i.e. depth, source temperature, kind of energy and potential to be installed
• destination criteria i.e. and e.g. domestic, residential, industrial, agricultural, commercial
schemes
• magnitude criteria i.e. small, large etc.
as listed below in detail:
Depth:
Shallow 0-100/500 m
Deep over 100/500 m
The justification for the proposal is the occurrence of different geological conditions all over
Europe. A larger range of values and/or more harmonised with the RES Directive should be better
liked than more strict criteria.
Temperature:
Under 25-30°C for GSHP use
Over 25-30°C for direct use or power production use
The justification is based on Mechanical & Electrical design needs, usually dividing between not
direct and direct use of the geothermal sources along the 25-30°C range line.
Energy produced:
Thermal energy
under 30 kWth installed small size scheme
30-1000 kWth installed medium size scheme
over 1000 kWth installed large size scheme
The justification is that 30 kWt is a practical and commonly accepted (e.g. SUPSI-Switzerland)
divide for domestic needs.
Power
under 2000 kWe installed small size scheme
over 2000 kWe installed large size scheme.
Destination criteria (domestic, residential, commercial, industrial) aren’t listed because they should not affect the definition of the kind of exploitment of ground source.
Dealing with quality issues, due to several reasons based on past and ongoing experience,
monitoring groundwater and soil interested by heat abstraction should take also for
hydrogeological (e.g. aquifer porosity, hydraulic conductivity, transmissivity, gradient, flow rate,
etc.) and hydrochemical (e.g. pH, Dissolved Oxygen, Fe, Mn, heavy metals etc.) parameters.
2. Ground Sources exploitation legal framework at work in Italy
The Italian Law 896/1986 says 2000 kW is the divide between small and large schemes for the production of electrical energy with geothermal source. The definition of small and large schemes is also concerned to help defining the fees to be paid for electrical energy production.
There are no definitions for thermal energy production. The Committee wants to propose a lower value (1000 kWt) because, according to experience done, most of geothermal energy users actually have smaller needs whilst large commercial developments go quite easily over it.
In Italy the Regional Authorities (20 all over the country) are liable for permitting and licensing the larger schemes, by laws in force since 1933 and 1986, depending on the kinds of abstraction and of energy produced. The Provinces (180 all over the country) carry on the responsibility on permitting and licensing for smaller schemes, by laws in force since 1933 and 1999, depending on the kind of abstraction and of energy produced.
Asking for a fee is based on the principle that the exploitment of underground temperature, both by mass transfer (water abstraction) and by circulating a fluid into the soil, affects a property owned by the State. This early condition makes compulsory to achieve permits and licences given by the locally relevant authority for proper research and use of the resource.
In 2006, 1999 regulation was amended accepting the option to reinject groundwater abstracted to feed GSHP into same groundwater body.
There could be the need to run an EIS if the amount of abstracted groundwater overcomes 50 l/s and the need for EIA procedure over 100 l/s. Similar criteria apply to surface water exploitation. It can be worth remembering in Italy more than 75% of freshwater comes from groundwater. Therefore in principle groundwater resources are strongly protected by regulations at work, their quality being monitored by local EPAs.
CNG is working for a likely update of existing legislation to help recognise better RES and, among them, Geothermal Source as a great opportunity to be practised together with the full understanding and sustainable managing of resources whilst walking towards 2020 objectives.
3. CO2 sequestration policy in Italy
CNG has recognised CO2 and greenhouse gases as a major environmental task to be faced straight away and allow next generation to cope with climate change issues, likely stepping onto robust experience previously made.
CNG has started works of a Committee participated even by ENEA (http://www.enea.it/index.html) and by University of Rome La Sapienza. A dedicated course will be launched soon and run on next October within CERI programs (http://www.ceri.uniroma1.it/cnen/index.do).
The consequences of CO2 overproduction are expected to be massive even in Italy at least in
case of predicted sea level raise. On September 2008 the Conference on Climate Changes held in Rome recognised adaptation solutions just as part of containment measures to be taken, being preventative actions like CO2 sequestration indispensable as well.
In July 2008 ENEA has been published a report called ‘Energia e Ambiente 2007’ and soon a Report called ‘CO2 Capture and Storage’ will be available. A Proposal for an new Act on energy was made in Italy in 2008 being currently discussed at the Parliament (Disegno di Legge 1441-ter).
According to the report CO2 sequestration in Italy could be made in:
• salt rock deep geological units
• oil and gas abandoned boreholes
• deep coal mines
• geothermal filed unlikely to be exploited.
In Italy the current estimation of CO2 sequestration capacity in deep aquifers, including geothermal areas, is close to 440 Mt (80% onshore and 20% offshore) and to 1.790 Mt within oil and gas onshore reservoirs, giving a total figure of 2.230 Mt.
The main tasks of the ongoing research projects are:
• starting a demonstration project on CO2 capture and sequestration, where emitted by thermal power plants through the contribution given by main national industrial and research partners.
• direct participating to several international programs on nuclear energy: Generation IV
International Forum (GIF),Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP), International Project on Innovative Nuclear Reactors and Fuel Cycles (INPRO), Accordo bilaterale Italia-USA di cooperazione energetica and International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER).
With regard to CO2 sequestration the final goals of both research and governative actions are to improve best practices and to set standards for any of the operational steps needed for CO2 sequestration aimed for defining
• permits procedure
• responsibilities for site selection
• sequestration scheme realisation
• short and long term monitoring
• site decommissioning.
Inventor
Independent
said: On 10/09/2009
According to the fact that Earth’s nucleus is maden of molten lava on temperature of few thousand degrees celsius, and that’s only few miles from the Earth’s surface, I can’t stand so low using of geothermal energy. Human population lives in the midle of two enormous renewable sources- sun and molten lava, but unfortunatelly beside so many problems what we own have made it with current technology, still don’t use this precious source. I can’t understand calculations which some “engineers” does, when they account temperature of the water and efficiency from that hot water, is it more efficient to build mega pipe-constructions and to heat the water with petroleum jelly??? The main gain from this source despite other renewable energy sources is what you can get back already used water again into the spring or holl for endless times. Communities which use geothermal energy knows about advantages of this fortune, are they use it for building heating, orangery or manufacturing process. About pureness of geothermals I don’t even talk because there isn’t any energy source which have more perfect parameters- sun makes dangerous radiation, wind can cause building demaging, waves stop’s the marine traffic, plants for biofuels need agriculture area, biomass at the end while burning release CO2, hydrogen means a bomb etc. and all this sources need very complicated and very expensive technics.
Other main component what tells us about advantages of geothermal energy is the the process of operating- after essential drilling deep into the ground(sometimes it’s on the surface what’s ideal) you link the water with pipe-net and further operating is minimal, service controls are minor, there aren’t moving parts (which is very important about services). My oppinion is that in geothermal energy there aren’t almost any costs for research&development of the technology despite all other renewable technics which costs are account into $Billions, despite drilling and pump a hot water- simple.
Also I think that we should make revision of the term ” geothermal energy”. Under this term current explainings were using hot water with pumping out or by natural path for warming buildings or operatings process. Latest definition of geothermal energy is using geothermal gases for operating power plants to generate electricity. Interesting solution. Many countries use geothermal water to make a spa centers, also usefull idea. But what’s happened with abandoned mines, they are deep under the ground surface, inside temp. is over 40-50 degrees celsius, they are already excavated, no further investments. We could use this mines and fullfiled with water which will become hot for a short period as also internal volume is huge. This sort of using might give hot water for heating buildings during winter or as a tank for storage hot water during summer. Latest technology says that hot water could be used for cooling because water at 70 degrees will freeze quickly than a water at 20 degrees celsius. Why this technics are not used by tropic area countries??? Geothermal energy is perfect way warming your community at winter and cooling during summer.
But…it’s a matter of politics, there is big dissonance between technology leaders and political leaders, we can talk for a long time……but who will listen to us????
YES, I agree that local communities should be encouraged to develop their own sustainable solutions, such as geothermal energy, to power generations.
Project Manager
Public Works Department, City of Boise
said: On 10/09/2009
Should local communities be encouraged to develop geothermal energy to generate electricity? Others have commented in this forum on the natural fit of small scale and distributed renewable energy sources such as geothermal and development by local communities. This provides many benefits such as security of distributed generation, local energy sources, and local pride from within the community. Others have mentioned other issues such as a high initial capitol investment, which makes it difficult to develop a renewable energy source. And even in this enlightened age of energy awareness the renewable energy source must cost no more, or be less expensive than the unsustainable sources of energy today.
Let me first issue a disclaimer. I am from Boise, Idaho, and am employed by the City, which operates a geothermal based heating district. There are also three other geothermal heating districts in the city. But we are not generating any electricity locally. Our geothermal resource is not warm enough for that with the current technology. But as a representative of a local community that has developed a geothermal energy resource, I can report we have seen all the things that have been commented on in this forum.
We have developed these local heating districts because we have a locally available resource, literally in our back yard. And there is comfort in knowing the cost of this energy is not affected by the whims of the gas and oil market or global conflicts.
Geothermal heat is unique and unusual, even in our community. Nearly everyone in Boise knows someone who lives or works in a building with geothermal heat, but most people do not experience it first hand. This is because less than 10% of the buildings in the City use geothermal which is in part because we do not know enough about the ultimate capacity of the resource to plan (or require) universal usage.
And the high initial cost of any infrastructure expansion makes expansion difficult. Economic payback is a primary consideration. We as a system operator, and any building owner who is considering using geothermal heat, weigh the cost of using renewable energy against the other forms of energy available, and that is a relatively short term analysis – ten years or less.
Our City takes great pride in the system we operate, and our citizens take pride in all the geothermal heating systems in Boise. The City system is just now finishing the 26th year of operation. It has not been without trials and tribulations and any local community embarking on the development of a geothermal resource needs to understand that the pay off is long term. But as the people from Reykjavik report, once you get there, it is a great place to be!
Chairman and Executive Director
Canadian Geothermal Energy Association
said: On 10/09/2009
In response to the posed question: “Should local communities be encouraged to develop their own sustainable solutions, such as geothermal energy, to power generation?” the Canadian Geothermal Energy Association (CanGEA) emphatically says YES.
While Canadian governments have been slow to embrace geothermal direct use and power applications, CanGEA has done an admirable job of spreading the word about the benefits of geothermal energy. We now have several communities in British Columbia and Northern Canada who have tired of waiting for “big” companies or government to lead the way and instead, have initiated projects, studies and Community Outreach sessions with their own money.
Other companies in the oil industry are also looking at what direct uses and micro-power opportunities they can provide to local communities that are impacted by their operations. The geothermal energy would be co-produced from the naturally warm hydrocarbon fluids that are extracted and essentially, “green” the activities.
CanGEA is a national, not for profit association that works on behalf of our members to facilitate and promote the responsible and sustainable growth of geothermal energy in Canada which, we believe, can provide competitive, emissions free, renewable, base-load energy to Canadians and export markets.
Geothermal energy is an important part of Canada’s energy future, creating new investment and jobs in Canadian communities while also contributing to a cleaner environment for future generations. CanGEA undertakes policy development and advocacy with different levels of government, implements a broad range of communications and outreach activities and provides educational and networking opportunities for all stakeholders.
CanGEA members are leaders of the Canadian geothermal energy industry and include industry, academia and the public. For more information about our Association or to learn about upcoming events such as the Geothermal Energy Investment Workshop and Networking Reception in Toronto on September 9, 2009, please visit, http://www.cangea.ca
5,000 MW by 2015!
Secretary
Mexican Geothermal Association
said: On 18/09/2009
Of course, my response to this question is yes.
One of the distinctive characteristics of geothermal resources is that they are usually located in isolated zones, far away from the main cities and developing centers with high electric demand. In such cases, it happens to be un-economic to exploit the resource due to the length of the electric-transmission lines to conduct the power to the consuming centers. However, these resources can be used to supply the electric demand of small nearby communities, yet it only can be achieved if these communities are encouraged, and above all, economically supported to do that.
We had in Mexico an excellent example of this situation, in the remote village of Maguarichic, State of Chihuahua, located in the highs of the Tarahumara Sierra. In this village, then of around 600 inhabitants, there was an electric generator of 150 kW fuelled by diesel that supplied power an average of 5 hours a day (7 to 11 pm). The fuel had to be transported through an unpaved road 80-km long that in winter was often blocked by the snow. Some 7 km from this village there is a geothermal zone, known as Piedras de Lumbre, with hot springs and fumaroles between 43 and 91°C of superficial temperature. After the proper exploration studies, the Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE, the Mexican governmental utility in charge of generation and distribution of electricity) drilled two geothermal wells at 50 and 300 meters depth, and installed an automatic binary-cycle power unit of 300 kW and a 6.5-km long transmission line to the village. This unit started to operate in April 2001 supplying power 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The villagers formed a local committee and hired three local workers, trained by the CFE personnel, who were able to carry on the routine basic activities of the power unit and even face some minor problems, while the CFE personnel was in charge of major maintenance and solve other eventual problems. On early 2008 it was unnecessary to continue the operation of this plant since the CFE’s national electric grid reached the village. However, during almost eight years it was possible to use a relatively low-temperature geothermal resource (135-150°C) to satisfy the electric demand of an isolated village, whose life was drastically and positively changed by the availability of electric power at any time.
The Maguarichic experience was an exception in Mexico, but there can be a lot of Maguarichics in other parts of the world and, for sure, in Mexico. These isolated and small communities should be encouraged (and financed) to use their geothermal resources (if any) to supply their needs of electric power and, if that is the case, of heating.
Business Development Manager
Schlumberger Geothermal Services
said: On 28/09/2009
My answer is not only ‘Yes we should’, but… ‘Yes we can’.
It has already been proven that in favorable geological conditions, geothermal is a reliable and competitive source of energy. With advances in subsurface characterization and new drilling and optimization techniques, enhanced geothermal can be developed almost anywhere. However, accessing geothermal resources requires drilling deeper using robust drilling tools that are capable of overcoming extreme and complex subsurface conditions. Technologies provide the means for identifying favorable locations, predicting the optimum operating conditions, and enhancing the recovery of geothermal energy in a reliable and sustainable way.
Associate Editor
Global Politician
said: On 28/09/2009
Until well into the 1930s local communities in the West produced their own energy, drilled their own water and hauled it, and, in general, were self-sufficient as far as the consumption of utilities was concerned. The New Deal and the Depression brought this to a halt: governments monopolized both the generation and distribution of electrical power and water (as well as other public utilities, education, health, telecommunications, and transportation). This shift had its positive sides in that it encouraged economies of scale and firmly established the public goods nature of energy and water.
A few historic developments have reversed this etatist trend:
1. The advent of diffuse, democratic (or anarchic) “new utilities” (such as the Internet);
2. Privatization and deregulation;
3. Technological innovation (allowing, for instance, to feasibly micro-generate electricity);
4. The rise of global, efficient marketplaces;
5. The emergence of environmentalism and the emphasis on sustainable development and green technologies.
Consequently, communities and even households have been re-empowered. Individuals generate content – why not electricity? Governments should maintain their ability to deliver energy to faraway, isolated places and to the indigent and disenfranchised. The well-to-do middle-class in mainstream habitations should be allowed to generate electricity for self-consumption and for resale. Prices, quality, distribution pipes, and overall grid management should still be overseen and actively directed by governments. The rest should be left to private initiative and the marketplace.
Vice-president
Geothermal Panel European Platform for Renewable Heating and Cooling
said: On 29/09/2009
Yes, provided heating and cooling is considered within the local sustainable energy framework.
Considering electricity production and its uses, we shouldn’t forget that building heating and cooling is a major energy consumer and that in general terms, any discussion about power production should take into account in which way the produced energy is most likely to be used. For instance, at a local community level it may be decided not to produce a certain amount of electricity, provided the necessary energy for heating or cooling may come from other type of renewable sources. The result is undoubtedly a much higher efficiency. In this context, the advantage of geothermal energy is its utmost flexibility. It’s possible uses range from power generation, combined heat and power generation to heating and cooling by means of the use of, electricity or gas driven, geothermal heat pumps. It is also highly integrable with most renewable, as for instance in the use of soil as an economically feasible thermal storage, where other sources like solar thermal or biomass energy could be used as the source of heat.
Researcher
Institute of Physics Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences
said: On 30/09/2009
Geothermal energy is a proven resource for direct heat and power generation. In over 30 countries geothermal resources provide directly used heat capacity of 12,000 MW and electric power generation capacity of over 8,000 MW. It meets a significant portion of the electrical power demand in several developing countries. For example, in the Philippines geothermal provides 27% of that country’s total electrical generation, from power plant complexes as large as 700 MW. Individual geothermal power plants can be as small as 100 kW or as large as 100 MW depending on the energy resource and power demand. The technology is suitable for rural electrification and mini-grid applications in addition to national grid applications. Direct use of geothermal heat can boost agricultural and aqua-culture production in colder climates and supply heat for industrial processes that can add value to local primary products. Geothermal resources may be especially important and significant in developing nations where no indigeneous fossil fuel resources exist such as oil, coal or natural gas. Costs of geothermal electric power are very dependent on the character of the resource and project size. The unit costs of power currently range from 2.5 to over 10 US cents/kWh while steams costs may be as low as USD3.5 /tonne. Major factors affecting cost are the depth and temperature of the resource, well productivity, environmental compliance, project infrastructure and economic factors such as the scale of development, and project financing costs.
In general there are two main categories, the high temperature resources and the moderate/low temperature resources. The high temperature geothermal resources (> 200oC) are predominantly found in volcanic regions and island chains. The moderate to low temperature resources are found on all continents. The high temperature is almost always used for power production while most of the low temperature resources are used for direct heating purposes or agriculture and aquaculture. Lower temperature geothermal resources are found in many regions of the World. They can provide useful energy for heating buildings and agricultural and industrial processes. Such heat can also be available as a by-product of geothermal power generation projects that use higher temperature resources. High temperature geothermal reservoirs containing water and/or steam can provide steam to directly drive steam turbines and electrical generation plant. Binary cycle sytems using heat transfer media of lower boiling point than water (such as organic fluids), enable power to be generated from lower temperature resources. With over 8000 MW of installed capacity, geothermal electric power generation is a well-proven technology that has been especially successful in countries and islands that have a high reliance on imported fossil fuels.
Power plants as small as 100kW, but commonly 1-5MW, may provide distributed generation on larger grids or they may be a major generation source for smaller power grids. There is a perception that geothermal power plants are base load stations that operate 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. This is not necessarily the case. Indeed geothermal power plants can be designed to follow load demand if necessary such as may be required in mini-grid applications. Small power plants are usually built using a modular approach that reduces site construction costs and can be placed adjacent to the wells so that the overall project has a minimal environmental impact.
As of 2000, approximately 8,000 megawatts (MW) of geothermal electrical generating capacity was present in more than 20 countries, led by the United States, Philippines, Italy, Mexico, and Indonesia (see Table 1). This represents 0.25% of worldwide installed electrical generation capacity. In the United States, geothermal power capacity was 2,228 MW, or approximately 10% of non-hydro renewable generating capacity in 2001 (see Fig..1).
As is known, the Azerbaijan Republic is rich with the thermal waters had mainly in regions of Bolshoy and Maliy Caucasus, Apsheron and Talish areas. On Maliy Caucasus thermal sources are grouped in region of the Terter and Arpachay rivers. The geothermic step for sources is 2-3 m/oC. In region Bagirsaga on depth of 100 m the temperature of water is equal 80°С, region Istisu on depth of 60-70 m the temperature of water is equal 62°С, on depth of 300-350 m the temperature of water is equal 75°С. The total discharge of water in region Verhniy Istisu is.800-900 m3/day, in region Nijniy Istisu discharge is 25 m3/day. In Nahchyvan regions in sources of Sirabski, Nagadjirski and Djulfinski mineral water a long-hole drilling it is possible to bring out a heat water. In table 3 the prospective operation reserves of thermal waters on republic are shown. As a result of the assaying of the collected materials a series of regularities of thermal waters allocation are determine. On its basis in 1982 the hydrogeothermic map for territory of Azerbaijan was made up. The geothermic regime in the viewed areas varies under the summary effect of many factors influencing a heat flux density. The determined abnormalities of a geothermic regime can be explained by a lithological composition of mucks, the tectonic phenomena (structures, fractures), proximity quaternary and mud volcanoes, and also dynamism of waters.
Thus, geothermal sources of Azerbaijan are low-temperature. Despite of it, development and use of geothermic sources in Azerbaijan is very perspective. For today, cooling thermal waters on 20-40оС it is possible to receive totally from all sources specified in table 2, minimum 700 MW.
Managing Director
United Nations Industrial Development Organization
said: On 30/09/2009
Yes, an extended use of geothermal energy resources through distributed power plants for local communities can be an important contribution to sustainable development, particularly in areas where connections to large grids are difficult or overly expensive.
The reply to the question must nonetheless consider the timescale and the technology presently available.
Two main routes are presently envisaged to extend the use of geothermal energy and make such renewable resource follow an exponential development trend, compared to the linear one that it has been experiencing in the last decades: Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS, also known as Hot Dry Rock) and binary plants.
EGS represent a solution for power generation oriented towards high enthalpy resources, whose technical feasibility has been proven, but which is far from a widespread commercial diffusion. Present technological constraints focus on high enthalpy resources, and costs implied by drilling and hydraulic stimulation make it hardly, if at all affordable, by small communities and limit its diffusion to areas characterised in any case by favorable geothermal gradient.
Binary plants allow the extraction of heat for power generation from low-enthalpy resources, with temperatures as low as 76°C (Alaska), provided that the temperature difference between heating and cooling sources be around 50°C. These are proven achievements with presently available technology. The cost of a binary plant of 250 KW capacity can be in the range of USD 500,000 and the costs of drilling, given the characteristics of the required heating source, can be reduced of orders of magnitude compared to those of high-enthalpy geothermal projects.
Both solutions are feasible and promising but the latter one (binary power plants) is already providing a rapidly increasing fraction of the power presently generated from geothermal resources while EGS apparently need further research and development to become the cost effective route towards a widespread electricity production from geothermal resources.
In the short-mid range we may thus expect an increment of installed capacity for local communities, mainly based on binary technologies, while on a wider perspective EGS will probably become the geothermal answer to diffuse power generation.
In both cases, the extension of geothermal power generation to local communities will bring the recognised benefits of this renewable source: base load generating capacity, lowest cost per kWh produced compared to any other renewable source, ubiquitous distribution of the source.
Therefore and again: yes, geothermal energy can give a great opportunity to local communities of meeting their own power generation demand. But we must be aware of the following necessary efforts to make it a viable route to sustainable development:
a. Effort in research and development: to assess geothermal potential through advanced and cost effective exploration methods, to develop enhanced technological solutions for power generation (Binary, EGS);
b. Effort in capacity building: there is an urgent and perceived need of skilled personnel who can provide competent assistance at all stages of the widely interdisciplinary development of a geothermal project. The lack of adequate expertise will strongly hamper any attempt to geothermal development (as to any highly technological enterprise);
c. Effort in developing a favourable regulatory and financial environment: local communities shall be encouraged on the geothermal route only through the implementation of adequate financing schemes, to support the initial investments required by geothermal projects, and through the establishment of regulations favouring geothermal electricity production;
d. Effort in networking and co-ordination: co-ordination in research, training, exploration and exploitation will definitely be the key to open the geothermal route to local communities.