Haberler

The right legislation key for geothermal living up to its great promise in Europe

European Parliament, Brussels, Belgium (source: flickr/ Francisco Antunes, creative commons)
Alexander Richter 9 Oca 2014

In an article Vittorio Prodi, Italian member of the European Parliament urges legislatory efforts to help geothermal contribute up to its potential to the future European energy mix.

In a recent article in The Parliament, Vittorio Prodi, Member of the European Parliament and sitting on the European Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, highlights the great potential for geothermal energy in the European energy mix.

There he talks about the reliable base-load energy provided by geothermal, which complements various other renewables providing broad market opportunities. But he also talks about the challenges faced by geothermal in Europe.

“Given the right policy environment, geothermal technology would be able to contribute significantly to our energy and environmental objectives (20 per cent for renewable energy’s share of energy consumption in the EU by 2020 and the promotion and use of renewable energy), but there are significant barriers to overcome.”, so Vittorio Prodi.

Geothermal power represents about 4.4 of total renewable energy consumption in the EU in 2010, but it could avoid up to 40 megatons of CO2 a year in 2020 and 50 megatons a year in 2030.

He correctly highlights the risks faced by developers and the high cost of drilling, as key obstacles for more development. While feed in tariffs are mentioned here, he also points out to the need that “energy regulators and competition authorities, at EU and national level, need to act decisively to ensure that all companies are treated equally, ensuring a level playing field.”

To read the full article see link below.

Vittorio Prodi is the brother of Romano Prodi, former President of the European Commission.

Source: The Parliament