EGEC Brussels declaration 2009
Alexander Richter
12 Feb 2009
The European Geothermal Energy Council (EGEC) an international industry association promoting geothermal energy within Europe and the European Union has published a "Brussels Declaration 2009", in which targets are set for the use/ utilization of geothermal energy in Europe.
The European Geothermal Energy Council (EGEC) an international industry association promoting geothermal energy within Europe and the European Union has published a “Brussels Declaration 2009”, in which targets are set for the use/ utilization of geothermal energy in Europe.
EGEC states that: “The targets set for the geothermal sector for 2030 are to contribute to 5% of the total electricity production in Europe, and 3,5 % of the total heat generation. Geothermal energy is today the 4th RES provider to the total final energy consumption (behind Biomass, Hydropower, and Wind). The attainment of the 2020 RES target will require the use of the all renewable energy sources, among which geothermal energy. A Renewable energy mix can not be reached in the future without geothermal energy: don’t ignore it now, the future is there!”
EGEC, estimates that by 2020 around 6,000 MW installed geothermal power generation capacity could be up and running in the 27 countries of the European Union, producing around 50 TWh of electricity, utilizing low temperature, conventional and EGS technologies. This would be mean a 7-fold increase. The picture looks even better for direct use applications for heating or cooling.
In the statement the organization also questions why there is no mentioning of “geothermal energy” in recent renewable energy plans of the European Union and continues, “so if governments do not fully appreciate the geothermal contribution to solving the energy problems, maybe it is good to look at the private sector. And so we read with great pleasure and satisfaction, that participants of the recent World Economic Forum in Davos concluded that geothermal energy will offer the best possible cost-effectiveness of renewable sources. To quote form the relevant report: “Geothermal Power is particularly attractive as a renewable energy source because it can be used as predictable base-load power…”, and: “ …a raft of new approaches has helped make it economically viable across a wider area” adds EGEC President.
Source: EGEC press release via e-mail, Website
