Germany looks at boosting the use of geothermal energy
Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Berlin is looking at ways to reduce its dependency on gas supplied by Moscow.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Berlin is looking at ways to reduce its dependency on gas supplied by Moscow.
Germany is considering using an out-of-use airport to implement its geothermal plans, as Berlin looks to become more energy-independent – and cleaner.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said last week the country’s goal is to get as much geothermal energy as possible by 2030, focusing on providing heating to buildings.
The war in Ukraine forced Germany to massively decrease its reliance on Russian gas.
One study by the Fraunhofer Institute last year found that geothermal energy could provide more than a quarter of Germany’s heating.
“And that’s why it’s so important that the German government stops investing in fossil fuels and starts pushing really hard and only for 100% renewable energies.”
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Geothermal does NOT mean digging up coal from the ground and using it for heat
Isn't Iceland 100% geothermal? I have a soft spot for technologies that have actually displaced fossil fuels in significant geographical areas.
It is mainly hydro. However in Germanys case it is meant to provide heating for buildings and not electricity. There are some cool things you can do with it, when available. The biggest one is aquifere heat storage, so using ground water deep enough to have geothermal heat, to store large amounts of hot water. Like large enough amounts to heat a city for a year. Hence it is a great technology to use together with other renewable power sources.
Building heating is usually the thing that a lot of people forget about when it comes to energy. If you have 45 cents a kilowatt hour electricity you're not going to be heating your home with electricity unless you're a Rockefeller. In a lot of cases, building heating causes more emissions than transportation. So if you can help people heat their homes or help businesses or factories heat their buildings using a carbon neutral energy source, that can be more impactful than taking every car off the road.
I'm glad they're looking to all avenues to reduce emissions. Well, expect nuclear, apparently.
Maybe they should stop decommissioning nuclear power 🤷
Already stopped. All near plants are already decommissioned.
They are turned off, decommissioning them will take decades.