Only 5% of geothermal potential is used world-wide
Íslandsbanki Geothermal Potential Map (source: Íslandsbanki)
Alexander Richter
10 Sep 2010
The world uses only 5% of its potential, as highlighted in the recent report on the Canadian Geothermal Energy Market by Íslandsbanki.
A recent article looks at the geothermal potential and its underutilization. The article refers to a report by Islandsbanki, that states “the world is using barely 5% of its geothermal potential.”
“While the world currently has an installed capacity of about 10,700 megawatts (MW), generating about 67,000 gigawatt hours (GWh) in total, installed capacity could be boosted to as much as 190,000MW from the renewable energy source. It is also, say Islandsbanki analysts, the only viable alternative for baseload electricity generation to nuclear and fossil fuels.
Surprisingly, perhaps, the big three countries for geothermal energy are the US, the Philippines and Indonesia. The US leads the world, with installed capacity of 3,093MW, but also has projects planned for the next five years that will boost this total by an extra 2,307MW.
Indonesia, meanwhile, is looking to more than double its installed capacity, from 1,197MW in 2010 to 3,400MW; while the Philippines will increase its geothermal power generation capacity more modestly, from 1,970MW to 2,500MW.
The US benefits from the geological rift along its western seaboard – which encompasses the San Andreas fault that could, one day, swallow San Francisco and Los Angeles. Indeed, the most promising locations for geothermal power generation track the major geological fault lines.
Other surprises among the top ten include Kenya, which is looking to boost output of geothermal capacity from 167MW to 530MW – in the same ballpark as geothermal pioneers Japan and Iceland.”
Disclaimer: Being the author of the report that is being refered to here, I have to state that Islandsbanki bases its estimates on recently released data in the proceedings of the World Geothermal Congress 2010 in Bali/ Indonesia (Bertani, Ruggero, “Geothermal Power Generation in the World 2005-2010 Update Report”, available via the website of the International Geothermal Energy Association.
Source: Global Energy Magazine
