Geothermal energy is a renewable energy source with a total installed capacity for power in Europe of 3091 Mwe corresponding to 127 geothermal power plants in operation (as of 2018). Moreover more than 300 geothermal district heating systems are in operation. For more information you can consult EGEC website.
Tackling the environmental concerns for deploying geothermal energy in Europe
The objective of the GEOENVI project is to answer environmental concerns in terms of both impacts and risks, by first setting an adapted methodology for assessing environment impacts to the project developers, and by assessing the environmental impacts and risks of geothermal projects operational or in development in Europe. For more information go to the GEOENVI website.
Objectives
This database on environmental matters has the objective to present all environmental effects of geothermal operations. These effects and events are described in detail and in an exhaustive and transparent way.
The goal is to list them and present these environmental concerns for both geothermal market actors and scientists, and selected experts from the GEOENVI target groups: Decision makers from European, national, regional and local authorities, in order to tackle together these concerns and develop the mitigation measures properly all over Europe.
A large majority of the environmental effects listed in this report are inherent to all industrial activity. But Geothermal, being a renewable energy source, and developed in a sustainable way, is contributing to the fight against climate change.
What we find here
A documentation on environmental impacts and risks
A database gathering information on environmental issues concerning European deep geothermal sites
They take into account the different geothermal technologies and the geological settings of Europe.
For each topic after a synthetized review of the topic the cause of the phenomenon is described, the phases where it can occur, the influencing context promoting or inhibiting its occurrence, its classification as a risk or an impact, and its environmental consequences.
Perimeter of the database
This database is focused on deep geothermal activities. Considering the difficulties to propose a precise definition for deep geothermal, no clear definition was used within the GEOENVI project, which objective is not to elucidate the debate. However, the literature review mainly focused on operations that may be classified as “deep” (in general deeper than a few hundred meters, in general without heat pumps, etc.)
The objective is to collect and present reliable and up to date information about the potential environmental effect of geothermal utilization in Europe. The database makes information publicly available and is dedicated notably to stakeholders of deep geothermal projects. A certain expertise is needed to fully understand all parameters. It is the reason why the target of such a database are Geothermal market actors and scientists, and selected experts from the GEOENVI target groups: Decision makers from European, national, regional and local authorities.
How you can contribute
We welcome contributions to the site database. If you have environmental information on a specific site please fill the form in the site database tab. we will check it and then add it to the database.
Acknowledgement
This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No [818242 — GEOENVI]