Social Acceptance: a Sine Qua Non for Geothermal Development in the 21st Century

Abstract

In some zones on earth social acceptance is already at present an important condition for the smooth implementation of geothermal projects; but it will become a sine qua non in the next decades as more people will take awareness of the environmental issues, and news will spread on the impact that implementation of large geothermal projects may have on ecosystem and economy of the areas concerned. Actions to gain social acceptance include minimisation of environmental impact, prevention of adverse effects on people's health, and creation of benefits for resident communities. These actions involve significant burdens for the project budget, as additional components of the external costs. After discussing the various aspects of the problem, an estimation is given in this paper of the costs of the social acceptability for groups of projects of different type and size. Expenses to win social acceptance, however, also yield external benefits for the project owner, the most important of which are saving of labour, reduction of passive interests on bank loans, and shortening of time for the return of investment.