Council of Europe urges support of geothermal energy
The Council of Europe issues a resolution in support of geothermal energy and governmental support and incentives.
The Council of Europe, an intergovernmental body of 47 member countries that promotes human rights and European cultural diversity, recently issued a resolution in support of geothermal energy.
In the resolution the assembly of the organisation urges member and observer states to:
- “foster the development of geothermal energy operations in their national energy strategies;
- encourage the use of geothermal energy in all its forms, particularly locally;
- encourage international co-operation in the transfer of technology and the financing of geothermal development;
- increase realisation and awareness among the general public and potential investors of the advantages of geothermal technologies for a sustainable energy infrastructure;
- take the necessary steps to set up strategic research programmes and encourage the exploitation of geothermal energy resources;
- foster the introduction of financing and insurance schemes for exploration;
- encourage the setting up of transfrontier co-operation schemes to finance surface measurements and test drillings;
- introduce a European training and professional development framework;
- draw up a map of geothermal energy resources at European level within the framework of co-operation between the geological research bodies of each country.”
Further the resolution “invites the Council of Europe member states and observer states to harmonise, through the introduction of common instruments, the system of risk guarantees and the regulatory and administrative regime for the use of geothermal energy.
Additionally, the Assembly invites the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe to encourage local authorities to be reliable partners in the development and operation phases of geothermal projects.”
While these are only suggestions, they show that the message of geothermal reaches further circles and one can hope that this has an impact in governmental support for geothermal.
Source: Parliamentary Assembly, Council of Europe
