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[07.02.05]
ESTIR:
Energy Scientific and
Technological Indicators and References Workshop in Bruxelles, 3.-4.2.2005 The idea of such indicators is to help in monitoring the development in the energy R&D and application, and to help the European Commission as well as the member states to define realistic targets and objectives for their activities. More on the ESTIR project can be found under: http://www.cordis.lu/eesd/src/indicators.htm In a call for tender, DG Research apparently tried to get a more methodological approach for a set of key energy technologies on the sustainable side of the spectrum. Under the co-ordination by Fraunhofer-ISI in Karlsruhe, Germany, also geothermal energy was considered. The study is limited to electricity alone (including CHP). The idea is to validate and update the indicators at a regular basis, e.g. annually, by workshops, through input from industry and research institutes, or by further studies. Some remarks and discussion on the Geothermal chapter A general remark on the geothermal representation in the ESTIR study: In contrary to the original indicators, only electric power production was considered in the study. For geothermal this in particular means a drawback, as all the direct uses did drop out of the scope. A limitation was not only to the power sector, but also only a subset of geothermal power production in Europe was covered in more detail. Here it clearly showed that the authors of the study got most of their information from inside Germany and from the Soultz project group. The presentation of the data collected this way is mainly correct, but the whole set of data lacks a true European perspective. Risk coverage is a major bottleneck. Instruments to reduce the geological risk (exploration risk) have been called for by many voices from the geothermal sector. With the relatively modest return on invest possible with geothermal power plants, high risk will not be accepted by investors. It was also be mentioned that advanced stimulation technologies will help to reduce the exploration risk. As a support scheme, a reliable economic basis for advanced geothermal power plants is necessary e.g. through feed-in tariffs. For geothermal power production with high investment cost, but also extremely high load factors, the price of the energy sold is the highest incentive (once the geological risk can be addressed). Because the ESTIR results eventually might become a tool for decisionmakers and policymakers at least on the EU-level, it is important to have geothermal energy represented with acceptable figures, the right potential, and all of its possibilities (heat, cold, electricity), and to ensure an un-biased assessment in the context of the other energy technologies. Burkhard Sanner, February 5, 2005 A more detailed report can be found in the memberīs corner of http://www.egec.org |