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Energy transition from fossil fuels to renewable sources of energy is being implemented by all the countries to contain uncontrolled GHG emissions. The current global CO 2 emissions is exceeding 37.1 billion tons. This has tremendous influence on the global climate. Countries are facing unprecedented weather and environmental situations leading to loss of life and property. At the CoP (Conference of Parties) 2015 in Paris, countries have committed to develop renewable energy sources and reduce the use of fossil fuels and increase the percent of carbon free energy sources like solar PV, wind and geothermal. This primary energy source mix though sounds attractive and sensible, countries focused mainly on solar PV and wind. Geothermal, though generating 16,700 MW of electricity as on today, has not caught the attention of policy makers for various reasons. In order to bend the carbon intensity curve towards 2Ds, minimum of 20 GW of electricity generated from solar PV is required. Currently solar PV is generating 228 GW. Unfortunately there is no abatement of emissions and emissions are anticipated to exceed 37
billion tons by 2030. The reason being huge emissions from solar PV cell life cycle that is exceeding the current emissions from fossil fuels. Solar PV though dubbed as green energy; in reality it is not. This will be discussed in the present presentation. Geothermal energy source, that has a low carbon foot print and land foot print is currently generating 17000 MW. While hydrothermal is site specific, EGS (Enhanced Geothermal Systems) has huge potential as this can be harnessed anywhere on earth and has the potential to generate low carbo, low LCOE (levelized cost of electricity/energy) and can off-set substantial fossil fuels sourced energy. EGS draws heat from the high radiogenic granites available anywhere on earth. Soultz EGS project has established the technology to harness eat from granites and the FORGE project in UTAH is surging towards making EGS commercial with the advanced drilling technology. From hydrofracturing of granites now the technology is moving towards “EGS loop” technology thus minimizing the induced seismic risk. Pilot EGS projects are in operation in Soultz (France), Landau, Insheim, Altheim (Germany), Hijiori (Japan) to name a few, generating 1 to 4 MWe. Now the EGS technology is focusing on the ocean ridge flanks and island countries (high heat flow domains regions)
to provide uninterrupted energy to water starved countries like MENA and Gulf countries and provide food and water for sustainable development. Island countries can gain by cutting energy imports. The present talk focuses on the EGS technology, recent developments and future energy road to make countries energy and water independent. Application of EGS based energy for desalination, green hydrogen, food and water security and space heating and cooling will be highlighted. Case studies will be presented. |