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Box 5: Potential growth in geothermal power generationBog'liq 34. FS-Green-TechnologyBox 5: Potential growth in geothermal power generation
The current global capacity of geothermal power is around 10.7 GW across 26 countries. Pike Research, a
market research and consulting firm, has projected that the total worldwide geothermal power capacity could
grow to 25.1 GW by 2020. The firm also estimated that there is a minimum of 190 GW of conventional geothermal
resources around the globe that can be exploited using currently available technologies.
Source: Ecoseed website “Global Geothermal Capacity Can Hit 25.1 GW by 2020: Research” (30 September 2011). Available from
www.ecoseed.org/geothermal/article/14-geothermal/11357-global-geothermal-capacity-can-hit-25-1-gw-by-2020-%E2%80%93-research
(accessed 06 March 2012).
Table 4: Countries generating geothermal power in 2010
Source: Alison Holm and others, Geothermal Energy: International Market Update (Geothermal Energy Association, 2010). Available from
www.geo-energy.org/pdf/reports/gea_international_market_report_final_may_2010.pdf (accessed 06 March 2012).
The locations of geothermal power plants are mainly limited to areas with a hydrothermal resource and highly
permeable rocks. Geothermal resources that are relatively dry, featuring rocks with low permeability and
thereby insufficient water content, are undevelopable with current commercial geothermal technologies. How-
ever, enhanced geothermal system (EGS) (also hot dry rock, hot wet rock or hot fractured rock technology) is a
technology being developed to use the resources that traditional geothermal technologies cannot exploit. EGS
technology is under demonstration trials in several countries in the European Union.
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“Geothermal direct use” refers to the use of heat that comes directly from the geothermal source. In cold
climates, water from a hydrothermal source is used for heating, such as in buildings, greenhouses and district
heating. In warmer climates, geothermal heat has agricultural and industrial applications.
A geothermal heat pump (GHP) (also referred to as GeoExchange, earth-coupled, water-source and ground
source heat pump) uses the moderate temperature of the ground to raise the efficiency of heating and cooling
of buildings. The GHP application of geothermal energy is widespread in colder climates. However, the technol-
ogy is fundamentally different from what is used for geothermal power generation and the market segment and
applications are also different.
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