There is about 1 MW of geothermal heating of communal buildings and 3 MW of baths in Ukraine. [1] But there is no geothermal electricity generation.
Ukraine has considerable geothermal resources that can be used mainly for heat supply. There are also prospects for binary geothermal power plant initiatives based on existing wells at abandoned oil and gas fields. [2]
Ukraine has a good potential for the development of geothermal energy. This is due to thermogeological features of the relief and features of the geothermal resources of the country. However, at present, scientific, geological, exploratory and practical work in Ukraine is concentrated only on the geothermal resources that are represented by thermal waters. According to various estimates, the economically expedient energy resource of thermal waters of Ukraine is up to 8.4 million tons of oil equivalent per year.
Practical development of thermal waters in Ukraine was carried out in the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, where 11 geothermal circulating systems were constructed, using modern technologies for the extraction of geothermal heat from the earth. [3] All geothermal installations worked at the research and industrial stage.
Large reserves of thermal waters were also found on the territory of Chernihiv, Poltava, Kharkiv, Lugansk and Sumy regions. Hundreds of wells that have discovered thermal water and are in conservation can be restored for their further exploitation as a system for extracting geothermal heat.
In calculating the amount of possible consumption of low-temperature geothermal resources in the geoclimatic conditions of different regions of Ukraine, it should be taken into account that their intense exploitation can lead to a decrease in the temperature of the soil massif and its rapid depletion. It is necessary to support such a level of use of geothermal energy, which would allow exploiting the source of energy resources without harming the environment. For each region of Ukraine there is a certain maximum intensity of extraction of geothermal energy, which can be sustained over a long time.
According to the November 2011 National Renewable Energy Action Plans, the amount of energy produced by geothermal plants should increase significantly by 2020, with an expected volume of heat production of 2 630.7 thousand tp, with an intermediate target in 1 348,1 thousand t.p. by 2015. To achieve the goals, significant investments in production and heating networks would be required. Thus, the question of the policy of stimulation to give clear advantages to geothermal heat over heat from fossil fuels is actual, that is, the policy should work ahead. [4]
The technical and economic analysis showed that on the basis of the Dnipro-Donetsk depression oil and gas wells it is possible to construct geothermal power plants with depths of drilling or disclosing wells up to 3 – 4.5 km. At such depths, the 90% thermal potential of geothermal waters in productive oil and gas horizons of сarboniferous deposits does not exceed 108 °C. In this case, the replacement of organic fuel and electricity by the heat of geothermal waters and rocks is much more profitable for providing heat and heating (by 3 – 5 times). Two wells from the depth of сarboniferous deposits can provide 0.4 – 4.5 MW of thermal energy. [5]
Geothermal energy is thermal energy extracted from the Earth's crust. It combines energy from the formation of the planet and from radioactive decay. Geothermal energy has been exploited as a source of heat and/or electric power for millennia.
District heating is a system for distributing heat generated in a centralized location through a system of insulated pipes for residential and commercial heating requirements such as space heating and water heating. The heat is often obtained from a cogeneration plant burning fossil fuels or biomass, but heat-only boiler stations, geothermal heating, heat pumps and central solar heating are also used, as well as heat waste from factories and nuclear power electricity generation. District heating plants can provide higher efficiencies and better pollution control than localized boilers. According to some research, district heating with combined heat and power (CHPDH) is the cheapest method of cutting carbon emissions, and has one of the lowest carbon footprints of all fossil generation plants.
Renewable heat is an application of renewable energy referring to the generation of heat from renewable sources; for example, feeding radiators with water warmed by focused solar radiation rather than by a fossil fuel boiler. Renewable heat technologies include renewable biofuels, solar heating, geothermal heating, heat pumps and heat exchangers. Insulation is almost always an important factor in how renewable heating is implemented.
Energy in Bulgaria is among the most important sectors of the national economy and encompasses energy and electricity production, consumption and transportation in Bulgaria. The national energy policy is implemented by the National Assembly and the Government of Bulgaria, conducted by the Ministry of Energy and regulated by the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission. The completely state-owned company Bulgarian Energy Holding owns subsidiaries operating in different energy sectors, including electricity: Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant, Maritsa Iztok 2 Thermal Power Plant, NEK EAD and Elektroenergien sistemen operator (ESO); natural gas: Bulgargaz and Bulgartransgaz; coal mining: Maritsa Iztok Mines. In Bulgaria, energy prices for households are state-controlled, while commercial electricity prices are determined by the market.
The potential for exploiting geothermal energy in the United Kingdom on a commercial basis was initially examined by the Department of Energy in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis. Several regions of the country were identified, but interest in developing them was lost as petroleum prices fell. Although the UK is not actively volcanic, a large heat resource is potentially available via shallow geothermal ground source heat pumps, shallow aquifers and deep saline aquifers in the mesozoic basins of the UK. Geothermal energy is plentiful beneath the UK, although it is not readily accessible currently except in specific locations.
Iceland is a world leader in renewable energy. 100% of Iceland's electricity grid is produced from renewable resources. In terms of total energy supply, 85% of the total primary energy supply in Iceland is derived from domestically produced renewable energy sources. Geothermal energy provided about 65% of primary energy in 2016, the share of hydropower was 20%, and the share of fossil fuels was 15%.
Geothermal power is electrical power generated from geothermal energy. Technologies in use include dry steam power stations, flash steam power stations and binary cycle power stations. Geothermal electricity generation is currently used in 26 countries, while geothermal heating is in use in 70 countries.
Geothermal exploration began in China in the 1970s. It was initially handled by national bodies with public investments, and productive wells were transferred free of charge to the final user. Since the mid-1990s, under the framework of privatization and liberalization of the economy, national investment in exploration has been reduced. No new plants have been commissioned in the period 2000–2005. The only electricity-producing fields are located in Tibet. According to the "2005 Chinese Geothermal Environment Bulletin" by China's Ministry of Land and Resources, the direct utilization of geothermal energy in China will reach 13.76 cubic metres (486 cu ft) per second, and the geothermal energy will reach 10,769 megawatts, ranking first in the world.
Geothermal power in Germany is expected to grow, mainly because of a law that benefits the production of geothermal electricity and guarantees a feed-in tariff. Less than 0.4 percent of Germany's total primary energy supply came from geothermal sources in 2004. But after a renewable energy law that introduced a tariff scheme of EU €0.15 [US $0.23] per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for electricity produced from geothermal sources came into effect that year, a construction boom was sparked and the new power plants are now starting to come online.
Geothermal energy is the second most used form of renewable energy in Russia but represents less than 1% of the total energy production. The first geothermal power plant in Russia, which was the first Binary cycle power station in the world, was built at Pauzhetka, Kamchatka, in 1966, with a capacity of 5 MW. The total geothermal installed capacity is 81.9 MW, with 50 MW coming from a plant at Verkhne-Mutnovsky.Two other plants were built on the Kamchatka Peninsula in 1999 and 2002. Two smaller additional plants were installed on the islands of Kunashir and Iturup in 2007. Most geothermal resources are currently used for heating settlements in the North Caucasus and Kamchatka. Half of the geothermal production is used to heat homes and industrial buildings, one third is used to heat greenhouses and 13% is used for industrial processes.
Energy in Italy comes mostly from fossil fuels. Among the most used resources are petroleum, natural gas, coal and renewables. Italy has few energy resources, and most supplies are imported.
Energy in Ethiopia includes energy and electricity production, consumption, transport, exportation, and importation in the country of Ethiopia.
Renewable energy has developed rapidly in Italy over the past decade and provided the country a means of diversifying from its historical dependency on imported fuels. Solar power accounted for around 8% of the total electric production in the country in 2014, making Italy the country with the highest contribution from solar energy in the world that year. Rapid growth in the deployment of solar, wind and bio energy in recent years lead to Italy producing over 40% of its electricity from renewable sources in 2014.
Despite the historic usage of wind power to drain water and grind grain, the Netherlands today lags 21 of the 26 other member states of the European Union in the consumption of energy from renewable sources. In 2022, the Netherlands consumed just 15% of its total energy from renewables. According to statistics published by Eurostat, it was the last among the EU countries in the shift away from global warming-inducing energy sources. The leading renewable sources in the country are biomass, wind, solar and both geothermal and aerothermal power. In 2018 decisions were made to replace natural gas as the main energy source in the Netherlands with increased electrification being a major part of this process.
Renewable energy in Armenia ranges from geothermal, hydroelectric, solar and wind energy in Armenia.
Hungary is a member of the European Union and thus takes part in the EU strategy to increase its share of renewable energy. The EU has adopted the 2009 Renewable Energy Directive, which included a 20% renewable energy target by 2020 for the EU. By 2030 wind should produce in average 26-35% of the EU's electricity and save Europe €56 billion a year in avoided fuel costs. The national authors of Hungary forecast is 14.7% renewables in gross energy consumption by 2020, exceeding their 13% binding target by 1.7 percentage points. Hungary is the EU country with the smallest forecast penetration of renewables of the electricity demand in 2020, namely only 11%.
Renewable thermal energy is the technology of gathering thermal energy from a renewable energy source for immediate use or for storage in a thermal battery for later use.
In Ukraine, the share of renewables within the total energy mix is less than 5%. In 2020 10% of electricity was generated from renewables; made up of 5% hydro, 4% wind, and 1% solar. Biomass provides renewable heat.
By the end of 2016 Austria already fulfilled their EU Renewables Directive goal for the year 2020. By 2016 renewable energies accounted to 33.5% of the final energy consumption in all sectors. The renewable energy sector is also accountable for hosting 41,591 jobs and creating a revenue of 7,219 million euros in 2016.
Solar augmented geothermal energy (SAGE) is an advanced method of geothermal energy that creates a synthetic geothermal storage resource by heating a natural brine with solar energy and adding enough heat when the sun shines to generate power 24 hours a day. The earth is given enough energy in one hour to provide all electrical needs for a year. Available energy is not the issue, but energy storage is the problem and SAGE creates effective storage and electrical power delivery on demand. This technology is especially effective for geothermal wells that have demonstrated inconsistent heat or idle oil or gas fields that have demonstrated the proper geology and have an abundance of solar.
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