This report on environmental concerns has the objective to present all environmental effects of ‘deep’ geothermal operations for power plants and district heating and cooling. Some of the considered phenomena are just potential risks, whereas other are linked to the operation of the plant.
The potential negative environmental effects are here described in detail and in a transparent way. The goal is to to tackle these concerns and develop mitigation measures all over Europe.
Deep geothermal has a great potential for development in many European countries. However, the advantages of using geothermal resources for power production and heating & cooling are not widely appreciated. Thus, environmental impact assessment is a prerequisite to the deployment of the deep geothermal resources.
A large majority of the environmental effects listed in this report are inherent to any industrial activity. But geothermal, being a renewable energy source, and developed in a sustainable way, is contributing to the fight against climate change.