Greenhouse Gases from Geothermal Power Production
Geothermal is a renewable source energy that can be used directly for heating or for power production. Geothermal utilization, particularly power production, may result in some greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. GHG emissions from geothermal power pro...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Report |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2016
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2016/06/26519830/greenhouse-gases-geothermal-power-production http://hdl.handle.net/10986/24691 |
| Summary: | Geothermal is a renewable source energy
that can be used directly for heating or for power
production. Geothermal utilization, particularly power
production, may result in some greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions. GHG emissions from geothermal power production is
generally small in comparison to traditional base load
thermal energy power generation facilities. This is mainly
due to the fact that the large majority of installations
draw their geothermal energy from geothermal reservoirs with
low GHG concentrations. However, as the geothermal sector
has expanded, a wider range of geothermal resources have
been brought into exploitation, including geothermal systems
with relatively high GHG concentrations in the reservoir
fluid. There is a growing realization within the geothermal
community that geothermal power plants can, in rare
instances, release significant quantities GHG into the
atmosphere. This interim technical note presents an overview
of the current knowledge on GHG emissions from geothermal
systems and geothermal power plants, and gives guidance on
how to assess GHG emissions from geothermal projects when
this is required, depending on their stage of development.
This note identifies critical knowledge gaps and presents
recommendations as to how close these gaps and proposes an
interim methodology to estimate GHG emissions from
geothermal projects that financing institutions, such as the
World Bank, intend to support. The plan is to update this
note when the methodology has been tested by application to
actual projects and some of the current knowledge gaps have
been closed as more information become available. This note
proposes a way to estimate future emission factors for
geothermal projects under development. For instance, if a
pumped binary power plant is planned, the emission factor
will be 0. Projects using other energy conversion
technologies will result in some emissions. For projects
where wells have been drilled and tested, formulas are
provided to compute emission factors based on the chemical
composition of the geothermal fluid and the design
parameters of the power plant. For projects located in the
vicinity of existing power plants in analogous geologic
settings, emission factors from the existing plants can be used. |
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