Environmental impacts through geothermal energy provision in Europe

With the widely spread resources, geothermal energy is a resource which can noteworthy contribute to the future energy provision in Europe. However, a contribution to a sustainable heat and electricity provision is only reasonable if its use does not result in disadvantages for the environment compared to given alternatives. This has to be true for the environmental impacts connected with the whole life cycle (i. e. life cycle assessment (LCA) regarding construction, operation and deconstruction and including the respective pre-chains) but also for the effects on the natural environment, which are primarily site specific and regional. This paper will provide an insight how to approach the environmental impacts through geothermal energy provision. As the environmental impacts through the use of high-enthalpy resources has already comprehensively addressed in existing publications (such as Hunt 2000 or Kagel et al. 2005) this paper will focus on hydro-geothermal and Enhanced geothermal systems. Based on theses results, advices regarding a wider use of geothermal energy provision will be derived.ENGINE - FP