Status and Prospects of Geothermal Energy
- Key words
- EGS potential, proof of concept, site independence, upscaling
- Conference
- World Geothermal Congress
- Year
- 2010
- Session
- 0. Keynote
- Language
- English
- Paper number
- 0009
Full text
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Abstract
Although geothermal energy is well positioned within the renewables (in 2008 geothermal power production exceeded more than three times that of solar photovoltaics), current growth is only steady but rather slow. While wind and solar PV show exponential growth, geothermal power develops rather linearly, so far provided by hydrothermal resources, located in special geological settings. The universally deployable Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) technology could speed up geothermal growth, although substantial R&D efforts are needed to solve still open problems. Possible approaches are outlined.
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