The Sustainability Task of the International Energy Agency’s Geothermal Implementing Agreement

Abstract

The Geothermal Implementing Agreement (GIA) provides a framework for international geothermal cooperation under the auspices of the International Energy Agency (IEA). The promotion of sustainable utilization of geothermal energy is the main aim of the IEA-GIA’s current 5-year term. Therefore, a task was set up under Annex I (Environmental Impacts of Geothermal Development) of the IEA-GIA dealing with sustainable geothermal utilization. The aim of the Task is to collect information, identify research needs, facilitate international collaboration on the issue through workshops and meetings, as well as facilitate the publi¬cation of scientific papers and reports on geothermal sus¬tainability studies and research. To date, the sustainability issue has been discussed at several Annex I meetings; with some relevant definitions established and several significant research needs identified. A number of recent papers and reports have also been assembled and made available through the IEA-GIA’s website. In addition, a successful one-day international workshop dealing with sustainability modelling was held in late 2008, in Taupo, New Zealand, with over 40 participants and 17 presentations from 7 countries. As a result a special issue of a geothermal research journal, supported by the IEA-GIA Annex I, devoted to sustainable geothermal utilization has been prepared; with particular emphasis on long utilization case histories and sustainability modelling studies. Further work¬shops devoted to the sustainability issue and continued information gathering and dissemination are also planned. Another achievement of the Task is the lively sustainability discussions it has stimulated within the geothermal com¬munity.