GEOENVI Project: Tackling the Environmental Concerns for Deploying Geothermal Energy in Europe

Abstract

Deep geothermal has a great potential for development in many European countries. However, the advantages of using geothermal for power production and H&C are not widely known. Recently, deep geothermal energy production in some regions is confronted with a negative perception, particularly in terms of environmental performance, which could seriously hamper its market uptake. Thus, environmental impact assessment is a prerequisite to the deployment of the deep geothermal resources. The concept of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) allows analysis and comparison of the environmental impacts of different energy production technologies over their life cycle stages – from extraction of raw materials to production, transport, use and end-of-life. In the framework of the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, GEOENVI project, kicked-off in November 2018 for 30 months, aims at engaging with both decision-makers and geothermal market actors, to adopt recommendations on environmental regulations and to promote the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology implementation by geothermal stakeholders. The objective of the GEOENVI project is to answer environmental concerns in terms of both impacts and risks, by first setting an adapted methodology for assessing environment impacts to the project developers, and by assessing the environmental impacts and risks of geothermal projects operational or in development in Europe. The project aims at proposing recommendations on harmonised European environmental regulations to the decision-makers, at elaborating simplified LCA models to assess environmental impacts and finally at communicating properly on environmental concerns. The objective of this paper is to present the main project results and the methodology adopted to tackle the environmental concerns for deploying geothermal energy in Europe.