Geothermal Energy: Delivering on the Global Potential

Paul L. Younger
Additional contact information
Paul L. Younger: School of Engineering, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G23 5EB, Scotland, UK

Energies, 2015, vol. 8, issue 10, 1-18

Abstract: Geothermal energy has been harnessed for recreational uses for millennia, but only for electricity generation for a little over a century. Although geothermal is unique amongst renewables for its baseload and renewable heat provision capabilities, uptake continues to lag far behind that of solar and wind. This is mainly attributable to (i) uncertainties over resource availability in poorly-explored reservoirs and (ii) the concentration of full-lifetime costs into early-stage capital expenditure (capex). Recent advances in reservoir characterization techniques are beginning to narrow the bounds of exploration uncertainty, both by improving estimates of reservoir geometry and properties, and by providing pre-drilling estimates of temperature at depth. Advances in drilling technologies and management have potential to significantly lower initial capex, while operating expenditure is being further reduced by more effective reservoir management—supported by robust models—and increasingly efficient energy conversion systems (flash, binary and combined-heat-and-power). Advances in characterization and modelling are also improving management of shallow low-enthalpy resources that can only be exploited using heat-pump technology. Taken together with increased public appreciation of the benefits of geothermal, the technology is finally ready to take its place as a mainstream renewable technology, exploited far beyond its traditional confines in the world’s volcanic regions.

Keywords: binary cycle; drilling; energy; exploration; geophysics; geothermal; heat; heat-pump; power plant; renewable (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (13)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/8/10/11737/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/8/10/11737/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:8:y:2015:i:10:p:11737-11754:d:57345

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().