Forgotten But Still Producing: Geothermal Power Could Push European Union Past its 2020 Clean Energy Targets
The European Union's long-term renewable energy strategy is yet another example which shows the geothermal industry, despite receiving less media attention, and even less funding than the solar, wind, and biofuel industries, continues to produce positive results.
In order to meet its target of generating 20% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020, the European Union (EU) has mandated all member states to submit National Renewable Energy Action Plans outlining their strategy to help the EU meet its goals. What has been glaringly lacking from each country's Action Plan is development of geothermal energy.
If each National Renewable Action Plan is accomplished the EU will meet its 2020 goal, and that is without any expected support from geothermal power. The European Geothermal Energy Council (EGEC) says the EU will actually exceed its 2020 goal because geothermal installations already exist in some countries and have not been counted in the Action Plans. Furthermore, several geothermal plants are under construction, yet there are no geothermal targets for the EU.
The European Union has immense geothermal potential, with each member state capable of utilizing the power resource. Even though the geothermal industry has not received many government mechanisms of support, the European geothermal industry continues to grow.
According to the EGEC, geothermal energy has met the EU's projections for electricity produced from geothermal power, and nearly tripled the projection for geothermal heating and cooling.
Learn more about Geothermal Power on eBoom's Geothermal Energy Learning Page.
Nathanael Baker is the Managing Editor of EnergyBoom. He has researched and reported on the issues of renewable energy, sustainability, and climate change for over two years. He has provided research to the New York Times and The Economist, as well as being published on different media outlets including, The Energy Collective.
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