Forums des énergies : société, écologie et technologies propres

Geothermal could supply 20% of European energy by 2050

10 December 2010
Geothermal could supply at least 20% of European energy demand in 2050, according to the European Geothermal Energy Council (EGEC).

“Things must change if Europe is to reach its energy decarbonisation objective, and that will not be possible without a substantial contribution from geothermal energy,” says EGEC President Dr Burkhard Sanner.

“Providing a renewable base load, geothermal energy does not have external costs such as storage, grid infrastructure or waste management. Conventional geothermal power is already a most competitive energy source, but only possible in certain regions.

“EGS, a breakthrough technology successfully demonstrate, will allow a geothermal development anywhere in Europe. EGS (short for ‘Enhanced Geothermal Systems’) will become competitive within a few more years.

“Geothermal will be a key player in an optimal energy mix,” Sanner concludes.

EGEC calls on national governments and European institutions to:

* Invest in R&D to deploy EGS and bring down the cost of EGS plants;
* Adopt a feed-in tariff suitable for EGS development; and
* Create a European Risk Insurance Scheme to mitigate the geological risk.